updated Aug. 11, 2006.

Date	Topic	Goal	Reading (before class)
Aug. 21	Introduction; syllabus; what is a mineral, what is mineralogy	Introduction; icebreaker. understand expectations	Chap. 1 p. 3- 5
Aug. 23	Review of necessary chemistry for mineralogy. VisitPhysics 2000website	ensure a common foundation for all students. Connect disciplines	Chap. 3 p. 39 - 45
Aug. 25	Abundance of Elements. Electronegativity. Bonding.	Why geochemistry matters. Importance of bonding	Chap. 3 p. 45 - 52
Aug. 28	Ionic size, coordination, controls of crystal structure. Jim Rice's site	Chemistry and structure are inter-related	Ch. 3 p. 53 - 55. Ch. 4 p. 57 - 59
Aug. 30	Group exercise: Mineral formulas	truly understand classification by chemistry	Ch. 4 p. 71 - 72; then p. 69 - 70. See also Ch. 11 p. 183 - 185
Sept. 1	Review and discussion of group exercise. Anionic groups. Start close packing schemes	Make sure all understand anionic groups. bonding within minerals	Ch. 4 p. 57 - 59. p. 326 (anionic groups)
Sept. 4	NO CLASSES
Sept. 6	Group exercise; ICE models part I	understand close packing structures by making them. Small group exercise.	Ch. 4 p. 57 - 62
Sept. 8	ICE models part II	basic structure types. Continue small group exercise.	Ch. 4 p. 57 - 62
Sept. 11	Paulings's rules . Sample structures	connecting structure and chemistry Reality of crystals	Ch. 4 p. 59 - 65
Sept. 14	Isostructuralism. Polymorphism.	details of structural changes and 2 examples; quartz (Will Hames site; Steve Dutch's site and alumino silicates	Ch. 4 p. 65 - 69. qtz: p. 201. al-silicates p. 314 - 315
Sept. 15	Solid solution. Visualizing compositional variation. Binary and ternary graphs.	Chemical variation happens within a fixed formula. life is never simple - it's interesting.	Ch. 4 p. 69 - 73
Sept. 18	Exam	Evaluation of student comprehension	Study!

Date	Topic	Goal	Reading (before class)
Sept. 20	Intro to crystallography. Lattices. We'll visit Mineral web	Understand crystalline nature of minerals. Note similarities and differences. BRING LAPTOP!	Ch. 2 p. 6-12. Get CHIME plugin on your computer
Sept. 22	Point symmetry, rotations, reflections	New way of looking at minerals. 2-D and 3-D symmetry	Ch. 2 p. 12 Ð15 fig. 2.10, fig. 2.16
Sept. 25	Kali exercise. Start on Symmetry in 3 dimensions	BRING LAPTOP! fun with symmetry. Visualize 3-D crystal systems.	Ch. 2 p. 12 Ð15. fig. 2.10, fig. 2.16
Sept. 27	Symmetry in 3D. 32 point groups, crystal axes.	3-D symmetry. Visualize geometry of crystal structures.	Ch. 2 p. 14-16 & 8-12. figs. 2.15, 2.18
Sept. 29	crystal systems. 3D lattices	3-D symmetry. Visualize geometry of crystal structures.	Ch. 2 p. 14-16 & 8-12. figs. 2.15, 2.18
Oct. 2	crystal faces. Miller indices	Learn this method of describing lattice planes and crystal faces	Ch. 2 p. 19-22. fig. 2.23
Oct. 4	Crystal habit, forms, intergrowths	Crystal habit reflects symmetry of internal structure	Ch. 2 35 - 38
Oct. 6	Mineral nucleation and growth, reactions	Building xtals. Also impefections	Ch. 5 p. 74 - 81
Oct. 9	NO CLASSES
Oct. 11	Twinning. Structural defects	The reality of making crystals. Note: I may have jury duty.	Ch. 5 p. 84-89
Oct. 13	Post-crystallization processes. Ordering, twinning.	How history is recorded in minerals. feldspar examples.	Ch. 5 p. 90 - 93
Oct. 16	Part III begins. Mineral ID: tactics, physical properties		Ch. 10 175-180. Ch. 6 97-108
Oct. 18	X-ray diffraction part I	understand x rays and what is physically happening	Ch. 8 p. 160-166

Date	Topic	Goal	Reading (before class)
Nov. 10	Exam	Evaluation of student comprehension	Study!!

Last updated: Aug. 11, 2006.

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