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Minerals -- Study and teaching

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California Institute of Technology: Mineral Spectroscopy Server

The California Institute of Technology created this website to provide valuable information about the color in minerals and data on mineral absorption spectra and Raman spectra. The modest site features additional information on silica polymorphs, desert varnish, ametrine, and manganese dendrite. Students can discover the technology used to collect the spectra data including the diode-array...

http://minerals.gps.caltech.edu/
Louisiana State University: Tourmaline Today

This Louisiana State University website features its research of the mineral tourmaline, which can provide "information on the thermal and fluid history of rocks in which it develops, is intimately associated with some of the world's premier metallic ore deposits, retains chemical signatures of the sources of tourmaline detritus in clastic rocks", and has many additional valuable petrogenetic...

https://www.lsu.edu/science/news_events/cos-news-events/news...
MIT OpenCourseWare: Introduction to Geology

If you are having difficulty remembering the details of the Earth's geological structure or the nature of major minerals and rock types, you can consult this excellent introductory course offered as part of MIT's OpenCourseWare initiative. The materials are drawn from Professors Perron and Jagoutz's 2011 "Introduction to Geology" course, and they include a number of lecture notes, available for...

https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/12-001-introduction-to-geology-f...
RocksForKids.com

The RocksForKids site is produced by two amateur, Canadian "rockhounds" and collectors, actually a K-12 teacher and an architect. The site provides introductory information and Web links on rocks and minerals for school children. Topics include: How Rocks & Minerals are formed, Identification of Rocks & Minerals and Uses of Rocks & Minerals. There is also a section for teachers offering...

https://www.rocksforkids.com/
The Graphite Page

John A. Jaszczak at Michigan Technological University presents the characteristics of graphite at this website. Students can find concise descriptions and helpful images about graphite properties, spirals, and structures. The website offers images and descriptions of graphite found all over the world. Using Macromedia Flash Player, students can observe graphite levitating due to its diamagnetic...

https://pages.mtu.edu/~jaszczak/graphite.html
The Rock Cycle

Teachers, are you looking for new activities to excite your students about the evolution of igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks? This website, developed by the non-profit organization Math/Science Nucleus, provides numerous hands-on activities for each grade from kindergarten through sixth. The chemistry section deals with the mystery of why and how minerals and rocks are formed. The...

https://www.msnucleus.org/membership/html/k-6/rc/index.html
University of California -- Santa Barbara: Bancroft Mineral Collection

This website produced by the University of California -- Santa Barbara provides users with an abundance of information on the minerals in the internationally respected Bancroft Mineral Collection. For each specimen, students can find information divided into three parts. The main page supplies users with a summary of the chemical and physical properties and an image of an amazing array of...

http://bancroft.geol.ucsb.edu/-FR/Overview-FR.html
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University of Illinois: Department of Geology Teaching Resources

The University of Illinois has a well-regarded department of geology with staff members and associates who have created a trove of resources for students and educators seeking to know more about the Earth and its forms. The resources are divided into two dozen topical sections, including Big Bang, Building Blocks of Earth, and Geologic Time. Each section contains links to high-quality resources...

https://geology.illinois.edu/resources/teaching-resources
University of Wisconsin-Fluid and Melt Inclusions

The University of Wisconsin-Madison created this website "for people interested in the properties, behaviors and origins of fluid and melt inclusions in natural and synthetic materials." The website offers downloads of publications in _The Canadian Mineralogist_ journal and other rock and mineral papers. Students and researchers can find out about meetings and work shops. The website fosters...

http://www.geology.wisc.edu/~pbrown/fi.html