GEOL 312: Optical MineralogyFinal Project
Aims and Objectives
The objective of this project is for you to implement the skills you have developed in this
course and to describe, in detail, the optical properties of a mineral that is unfamiliar to
the class. This project will be an opportunity to demonstrate your communication skills
and you show that you can effectively describe your observations to other scientists.
Assignment
Students have been assigned a mineral that was not part of the normal curriculum for
this course. Each student will prepare a brief (4-5 slide) presentation that outlines the
optical properties of their assigned mineral. Presentation should be organized such that
other students in the class will have all the information they need to identify the
presenter’s mineral if asked to.
Presentation should include:
– A brief introduction to the mineral’s chemical properties and formation
environment
– Description of physical properties observable in thin section
– Description of optical properties observable in thin section
– Summary of properties the student finds most useful when identifying the
mineral
– Summary of how the assigned mineral compares to a similar mineral
identified in the course
o For example, if the student were presenting on Clinopyroxene, they
would outline how to differentiate it from Orthopyroxene, which has
several properties in common.
Effective presentations may include:
– Clearly outlined slides
– Annotated images of the mineral(s)
– Citations when necessary
Presentations
Students will present their work to the class virtually on 11/19/2020. Students should be
prepared to share their screens and show their work via Zoom.
All presentations should also be uploaded to Blackboard before the start of class. I will
compile the slides into one file and share them with the entire class for reference. If you
do not want your project included in the compilation, please let me know. You still need
to upload it to Blackboard.
Resources
Students are encouraged to use all resources at their disposal. A successful
presentation will likely require describing multiple thin section images and searching
outside reference material. Students may find resources in the Useful Handouts folder
on Blackboard helpful and should also consider mineral databases and textbooks.
Grading
This project is worth a total of 140 points, which is 40% of the overall course grade. A
poor performance on this assignment may impact your grade dramatically. However,
you will be given the opportunity to improve your grade in the event you are unsatisfied.
Each student will receive a grade (0-140) with comments following their presentation. If
students desire, they can update and re-submit their presentation to receive a maximum
of half of the points lost in the original submission. For example:
Original Points
Received
0
20
50
80
110
130
Maximum Possible After Re-Submission
→
→
→
→
→
→
70
80
95
110
125
135
Re-Submission of a presentation does not guarantee all the points possible. A
successful re-submission will consider all the comments in the original evaluation.
Students must participate in the original presentation and submit their original
presentation on time in order to be eligible for the re-submission. Re-Submissions are
due on Monday, 12/07/2020 at 11:59 pm.
Mineral Assignments
Glaucophane
Y
https://www.virtualmicroscope.org/con Alawadhi
tent/m21-glaucophane-phengitegarnet-clinozoisite-gneiss
Final Project Rubric
Category
(points)
Summary of
Mineral (20)
Excellent
Fair
Poor
20 – 15
15 – 8
8–0
Description of
Properties (40)
40 – 30
30 – 15
15 – 0
Summary of
Distinguishing
Features (20)
20 – 15
15 – 8
8–0
Relation to
Other Minerals
(20)
Use of Figures
(20)
20 – 15
15 – 8
8–0
20 – 15
15 – 8
8–0
Overall Quality
(20)
20 – 15
15 – 8
8–0
Total points ____/140_
Additional comments:
Comments