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Separating Mixtures: How We Concentrate Natural Materials
http://www.rsc.org/Education/Teachers/Resources/jesei/separate/students.htm
From DLESE Community Collection (DCC)
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This activity involves separating mixtures of minerals on the basis of their physical properties. Students are shown a piece of granite and see that it is clearly a mixture. Students will try to devise ways of separating some simple mixtures and then see how some of the same methods are used to separate real minerals from mixtures. Students will discover that many useful materials are found as part of mixtures. For example, salt is found in underground deposits mixed with sand and clay. The mixture is called rock salt. Minerals are chemicals found naturally in the Earth and many of them are very useful. To get at the useful minerals, we usually have to separate them from less-useful material which are often called gangue (pronounced gang) by miners.
Intended for grade levels:
  • Intermediate (3-5)
  • Middle (6-8)
Type of resource:
  • For the classroom:
    • Lab activity
Subject:
  • Geological Sciences:
    • Mineralogy or petrology
  • Technology
Technical requirements:
No specific technical requirements, just a browser required
Cost / Copyright:
No cost
Copyright is waived for original material published on this site if the material is required for use within the laboratory or classroom. The copyright of material reproduced by permission of other publishers rests with the originating publisher.
DLESE Catalog ID: DLESE-000-000-006-590
Educational standards:
  • National Science Education Standards (NSES):
    • K-4:
      • A - Science as inquiry:
        • Abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry
      • B - Physical science:
        • Properties of objects and materials
      • D - Earth and space science:
        • Properties of earth materials
    • 5-8:
      • A - Science as inquiry:
        • Abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry
      • B - Physical science:
        • Properties and changes of properties in matter
Resource contact / Creator / Publisher:
Publisher: Joint Earth Science Education Initiative (JESEI)