Department of Earth Science |Northeastern Illinois University

INTRODUCTION TO EARTH SCIENCE
ESCI 121
Spring 2006

By the end of today’s class, you should be able to do the following:

*  List and describe the three major kinds of particles in an atom.

*  Use a periodic table of the elements to determine how many protons are in any given atom.

*  Tell what an ion is.

*  Using the concept of how electrons fill "shells" or energy levels, explain why some atoms have a tendency to form ions.

*  Tell which column in the periodic table has those elements whose electron "shells" (energy levels) are full int their most common state.

*  Explain why and how some ions tend to join together (bond) to form compounds.  Give an example.

*  Explain what a mineral is, listing the characteristics that all minerals share. 

*  Use simple laboratory tools (dissecting needle, copper penny, hand lens, scratch plate, streak plate) to investigate the properties of minerals.

*  Describe what is meant by the following terms used to describe mineral properties: 

                    hardness         luster         streak         specific gravity         cleavage         color

*  Use a mineral identification key to identify hand samples of minerals.

© 2006 Laura L. Sanders.  Last updated January 31, 2006.