J.C.'s ePortfolio

 Physical Science

GEO 1010 Introduction to Geology

For this assignment we were allowed to report on anything that we have discussed in class from our textbook. What topic did I choose to do this paper on? I did all on minerals because they such fascinating pieces of hard stone that can bring a shine into the world. Find out what minerals are, what mineralogists do in order to identify newly found minerals, and find out that many kinds of minerals make up materials that used to build architectural structures. Enjoy learning all about minerals and what can be learned from these shiny crystals.

 Reflection

Being allowed to do a paper on whatever topic we wanted that was discussed over the course of the semester I think was a great idea because then I don't have to report on something that didn't interest me at all which can be hard to get into. The topic I chose for myself is minerals and just what exactly did I gain from doing this paper on minerals? I learned is the techniques mineralogists (scientists that study minerals) use to classify minerals (crystals) and how they form on Earth. But mostly is that everything around us is made of countless minerals to make outstanding structures. The world is glorious place thanks to minerals.

Mineralogy sounds like a very interesting field to go into if you have a passion for rocks. Mineralogists can do tons of work on identifying newly discovered minerals but there are things that make a mineral what it is truly. In order to be a mineral all the characteristics of minerals have to be present such naturally occuring and must be solid. But some other properties scientists use in crystal classification is checking like if they can off energy, how hard they are, and seeing if they are optical. Then there is also how each individual mineral is created which come into this world in all sorts of different ways. But there's something even more important that was discovered from doing the research for this paper.

The most important aspect that this assignment really showed me was that minerals are part of our everyday lives and are all around us. No matter where you go, every home and building is constructed with materials that are manufactured from many different kinds of minerals. If they didn't exist at all then the world wouldn't be a place of magnificence with all its wonderful historical architectures that are still around today. Think about how the material called "marble" gets its texture which is thanks to a mixture of iron oxides, clay, and other kinds of minerals mixed together. So the next you're walking by a buidling, think about all the material used to make it and all the minerals in those materials.