Earth Science Lab Practical 1 Study Notes

Earth Science Lab Practical 1 Study Tips and Suggestions

General Guidelines

• Review all slide presentations thoroughly.
• Examine additional materials posted on Canvas.
• Go over all quizzes.
• For labs, ensure you comprehend: what you did, how you did it, and why you did it.

Laboratory Safety

• Review all personal safety requirements.
• Familiarize yourself with laboratory safety protocols as outlined in the safety agreement.

Data Journals

• Review the handout and guidelines for maintaining a data journal.
• Understand the distinction between the Table of Contents and Appendices (which might include formulas, a handwriting key, etc.).
• Comprehend the required format and be able to identify mistakes in a journal entry.
• Study Tip: Use the provided handout to review your own journal entries for proper format. Check if you completed everything correctly.

Density Calculation

• Be able to calculate density using the formula: $\text{Density} = \frac{\text{Mass}}{\text{Volume}}$

Graphing

• Variable Types: Know the differences among:
  • Independent Variable (IV): The factor purposefully changed in an experiment to observe a change.
  • Dependent Variable (DV): The factor measured or observed in response to the IV.
  • Control (C): A baseline or standard for comparison.
• Data Types: Understand the differences between:
  • Continuous Data: Can take any value within a range (e.g., temperature). Graphically represented by a line graph.
  • Discrete Data: Can only take specific, separate values (e.g., number of students). Graphically represented by a bar graph.
  • Qualitative Data: Verbal information (e.g., color, texture).
  • Quantitative Data: Numerical data (e.g., height, weight).
• Graph Types: Distinguish between:
  • Line Graphs: Used to show change or trends over time or across a continuous variable.
    • Typically, the Y-axis represents the DV, and the X-axis represents the IV.
  • Bar Graphs: Used to compare categories or discrete data.
    • Typically, the Y-axis represents the DV, and the X-axis represents categories.
• Construction: Be able to construct both tables (for data collection) and figures (graphs).
  • Tables: Are labeled above the table and should be numbered sequentially.
  • Figures (Graphs): Are labeled below the figure and should be numbered sequentially.

Minerals

• Five Mineral Characteristics: Minerals must possess all five of the following:
  1. Naturally occurring.
  2. Inorganic.
  3. Solid substance.
  4. Orderly crystalline structure.
  5. Definite chemical composition (allowing for some variation).
• Be able to use tables/charts to identify mineral specimens.
• Know definitions of each diagnostic property and be able to use them to identify each mineral:
  • Luster: The way a mineral reflects light.
    • Metallic Luster: Shiny, reflective like metal; typically opaque.
    • Non-metallic Luster: Can be glassy, pearly, dull, silky, earthy.
  • Color: The typical color of the mineral, though this can be variable and unreliable.
  • Streak: The color of a mineral's powder when scratched across an unglazed porcelain plate.
  • Transmission of Light: How light passes through the mineral (e.g., opaque, translucent, transparent). These are examples of "optical" properties.
  • Crystal Shape or Habit: The general shape or appearance that a crystal tends to grow into as it forms.
  • Hardness: A mineral's resistance to scratching, usually measured on the Mohs scale of hardness.
    • If your fingernail scratches the mineral, its hardness is less than $2.5$.
    • If the mineral scrapes on glass, its hardness is greater than $5.5$.
    • If the hardness is in between, it falls in the range of $2.5 - 5.5$.
  • Cleavage & Fracture: How a mineral breaks.
    • Cleavage: The tendency of a mineral to break along flat, planar surfaces in specific directions, due to weaker atomic bonds. Check the sides and angles of the mineral for consistent flat breaks.
    • Fracture: The way a mineral breaks when it does not exhibit cleavage.
  • Other Unique Properties: Recognize and identify minerals by these additional properties:
    • Taste (e.g., halite).
    • Smell (e.g., sulfur when rubbed).
    • Feel (e.g., talc is soapy, graphite is greasy).
    • Magnetic (e.g., magnetite).
    • HCl test (effervescence with dilute hydrochloric acid, e.g., calcite).
    • Striations (fine parallel lines, e.g., plagioclase feldspar).

Scientific Method

• Know the $7$ basic steps:
  1. Observation
  2. Question
  3. Hypothesis
  4. Predict (often in an "If-then" format, which is more specific)
  5. Experiment
  6. Analysis
  7. Conclusion (determining if the hypothesis is supported or not).
• Recall terms to avoid: Never use the word "proving" something in a conclusion, as scientific conclusions support or do not support hypotheses, but do not definitively prove them.

Metric, Measurements, & Inquiry

• Official Name: Know that the official name for the metric system is the International System of Units (SI).
• Base Units: Know the base units for various quantities:
  • Length: Meter ($m$)
  • Volume: Liter ($L$)
  • Thermodynamic Temperature: Kelvin ($K$)
  • Time: Second ($s$)
  • Quantity of a substance: Mole ($mol$)
  • Luminous intensity: Candela ($cd$)
• Prefixed Units: Understand common prefixes and their relationships to base units.
• Be able to measure using metric units.
• Be able to convert within metric units, time units, and temperature units, given the necessary information (calculators will be available).
  • Density Calculation: Repeat: $\text{Density} = \frac{\text{Mass}}{\text{Volume}}$
  • Length Conversions:
    • $1 \text{ kilometer (km)} = 1000 \text{ meters (m)}$
    • $1 \text{ meter (m)} = 100 \text{ centimeters (cm)}$
    • $1 \text{ centimeter (cm)} = 10 \text{ millimeters (mm)}$
  • Mass Conversions:
    • $1 \text{ kilogram (kg)} = 1000 \text{ grams (g)}$
    • $1 \text{ gram (g)} = 1000 \text{ milligrams (mg)}$
  • Volume Conversions:
    • $1 \text{ Liter (L)} = 1000 \text{ milliliters (mL)}$
    • $1 \text{ milliliter (mL)} = 0.001 \text{ Liters (L)}$
    • $1 \text{ Liter (L)} = 1000 \text{ cubic centimeters (cm}^3\text{)}$
  • Time Conversions:
    • $1 \text{ hour (h)} = 60 \text{ minutes (min)}$
    • $1 \text{ minute (min)} = 60 \text{ seconds (s)}$
    • $1 \text{ day (d)} = 24 \text{ hours (hr)}$