Professor: Dr. Emily Walsh
Office: 204 Norton (x 4302)
E-mail: ewalsh@cornellcollege.edu
Office Hours:
11:00-11:30 M-F, by appointment, or whenever you catch me in my office.
*I do not have email at home, so I will NOT be able to answer your email over the weekend or at night.
Textbook: The Manual of Mineral Science by Klein, 22nd edition (with CD ROM)
also, highly recommended: Introduction to Optical Mineralogy by Nesse, 2nd or 3rd editions
*Students must also purchase a hand lens of their own, available at the bookstore.
Prerequisites: Che-121 and Geo-111 or Geo-114.
Grading:
| 30% | Weekly assignments, labs, homeworks |
| 10% | Mineral project |
| 20% | Mineral quizzes |
| 20% | Midterm Exam |
| 20% | Final Exam |
Course schedule: Topics may be reorganized as the term progresses. The course will meet 9-11 am and 1-3 pm daily.
| Week #1: Halides, Hydroxides, Phosphates, Sulfates, Carbonates | |||
| Monday | 9:00 | Physical properties of minerals | Ch. 1-2, 5 (to p. 208) |
| 1:00 | Physical properties lab | ||
| Tuesday | 9:00 | Bonding; Chemical Coordination | Ch. 3 (p.90 to end); Oxygen Coordination HW |
| 1:00 | Ball & Stick Models | ||
| Wednesday | 9:00 | Pauling's Rules; Atomic Substitution | Ch. 4 (104-107; 136-157); Ch. 5 (208-213); Structural Formula HW |
| 1:00 | Growing minerals | ||
| Thursday | 9:00 | Solid Solution; Mineral Growth | Ch. 4 (p. 157 to end); Article #1 |
| 1:00 | SHAPE exercise | ||
| Friday | 9:00 | Symmetry; Crystal Systems | Ch. 5 (p.213 to end); Symmetry HW |
| 1:00 | Block models | ||
| Week #2: Native Elements, Sulfides, Oxides | |||
| Monday | 9:00 | Crystal classes; Miller indices | TBA |
| 1:00 | Mineral quiz #1 | ||
| Tuesday | 9:00 | Space groups; Translations | Ch. 3 (to p. 89); Density HW |
| 1:00 | SHAPE lab | ||
| Wednesday | 9:00 | Introduction to microscopes | TBA |
| 1:00 | Color/cleavage lab | ||
| Thursday | 9:00 | Relief, Becke lines; Isotropic minerals | TBA |
| 1:00 | Relief/isotropic mineral lab | ||
| Friday | 9:00 | Midterm Exam | Ch. 11; Article #2 |
| 1:00 | No lab | ||
| Week #3: Silicates | |||
| Monday | 9:00 | Silicate structures | Ch. 7 (292-309) |
| 1:00 | Mineral quiz #2 | ||
| Tuesday | 9:00 | Twins, polymorph.; Mineral stability | TBA |
| 1:00 | Mineral display | ||
| Wednesday | 9:00 | Uniaxial minerals; Optic figures | TBA |
| 1:00 | Uniaxial lab | ||
| Thursday | 9:00 | Biaxial minerals; Optic figures | TBA |
| 1:00 | Biaxial lab | ||
| Friday | 9:00 | Color in minerals | TBA |
| 1:00 | TBA | ||
| Week #4 | |||
| Monday | 9:00 | Special topics in Mineralogy | TBA |
| 1:00 | Mineral quiz #3 | ||
| Tuesday | 9:00 | Special topics in Mineralogy | Study for final! |
| 1:00 | Mineral display set-up | ||
| Wednesday | 9:00 | Final Exam | |
Assignments, Labs, Quizzes: As is true for any subject, mineralogy is easier to learn when you have lots of practice. Therefore, I will try to give you sufficient assignments to help you learn the material. Any in-class quizzes will be announced ahead of time. I will not accept late assignments for a grade, but I will correct them for you to make sure you're on the right track.
Mineral Quizzes: There will be three mineral quizzes (Monday afternoons of weeks 2-4). It is up to you to learn the minerals on your own time. Each week, I will put out a new set of minerals for you to identify and to learn. I will tell you which of the mineral formulas you should also memorize. Make sure you check your answers with me by Friday!
Mineral display: As a class, you will put together a mineral exhibit for public display here on campus. In doing so, you will not only learn more about minerals, but you will learn about curatorship, which is an important part of teaching the public about minerals.
Last Update: July 15, 2008 8:41 am