Ouch! It’s Hard!

Lesson Plan - Get It!

Audio:

There are so many minerals out there in nature that it can be difficult to tell one from another.

In a previous Related Lesson, found in the right-hand sidebar, you learned the streak test is a method scientists use to tell one type of mineral from another.

In this lesson, Flo will show you another way to identify minerals.

• Did you know that some minerals are super hard — so hard they can cut through almost anything — while others are very soft?

Watch Flo teach about a new mineral test: the hardness test!

The hardness test is a beneficial method for determining which mineral is which.

• Why is it so important to know how hard a mineral is?

Since minerals can be used in various ways to create various things. Designers want to ensure they use the right mineral for the job.

For instance, if someone wants to make a sturdy and strong bridge, they would not want to use a mineral to make paint. Instead, they will want to use a hard mineral.

If they used a soft mineral that is used to make paint, they would end up with one soft and shaky bridge!

It is always important to remember when you should and should not use a poisonous mineral when constructing something.

If you remember from the previous lesson, you learned that lead is a poisonous mineral. That means you should not use lead in things you eat and drink from — such as water pipes and utensils — or paint that you may come in contact with.

Instead, safer minerals that are not poisonous are best to use when making something that may come into contact with food and drink. This is why using the hardness test to figure out how hard or soft a mineral is can be very useful.

Continue to the Got It? section to answer some questions that shouldn't be too hard!