Mawson and Minerals Trail Years 6 9

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1 Years 6 9 This program for schools is made possible through the partnership between the Department for Education and Child Development and the South Australian Museum. It is part of Outreach Education, a team of DECD educators seconded to public organisations. Department for Education and Child Development and the South Australian Museum. This work may be reproduced by South Australian teachers for use with their students. For all other uses contact the South Australian Museum Education Centre. Phone: (08) Fax (08) education@samuseum.sa.gov.au Web:

2 Visiting the museum Student expectations We would like you, and all our visitors, to enjoy visiting the museum. Please stay with your group. Walk safely around the exhibitions to see all the best parts. Share the space with other visitors. Talking is an important part of learning. Please remember to use a quiet voice. The museum glass cases can get dirty or scratched. Please enjoy looking without touching. Please use the stairs and avoid the lifts. (They are slow and are needed by people who can t use the stairs.) Help keep the museum clean. Please eat and drink outside on the lawns. Visiting the museum Student expectations Bookings are essential for all school visits to the museum. Please supervise your groups of learners at all times. If your visit involves visiting more than one gallery, divide your class into small supervised groups. Respect the needs of other classes that have booked particular galleries. Parents must specifically consent to students under 18 participating in activities involving indirect supervision. When you arrive please let the staff at the front desk know. If the weather is fine, your students can enjoy the outside lawn area while they wait. Do not use clipboards with metal backings and clips. For your convenience and for the safety of our exhibits, cardboard backings are available at the front desk. The coffee shop and the museum shop do not cater for large groups. Small groups can visit, with adult supervision. Bags must not be taken into either shop. Only students with special needs should use the lifts. (The number of students in the museum would causes excessive delays for people who really need lifts.) Unfortunately the museum has limited capacity to store bags. A large crate or two for lunches is easier to keep secure. Supervisors bags must be left at the security desk, or be inspected and tagged by the security officers.

3 Teacher notes 2 Activity 1 Geologists at work Mawson was a geologist who researched South Australian and Antarctic geology. Have the students investigate one of the following. (In the Footsteps of Sir Douglas Mawson gallery, mainly on the western wall) Recognising different igneous rock (including volcanic rocks). Glaciers and glacial rocks. Formation of the Flinders Ranges. Radioactive minerals. Metamorphic rocks. (Minerals gallery) What minerals are mined at Broken Hill and what they are used for. Where in South Australia have geologists found significant deposits of economic minerals? Quartz crystals, their varieties and uses. Opal. Activity 3 Rocks and Minerals. What s the difference Have students compare rocks and minerals to investigate their differences. Even when rocks and minerals have formed in similar ways they can show differences that help identify them. (In the Footsteps of Sir Douglas Mawson gallery) Sedimentary rocks Igneous rocks (Minerals gallery) Quartz varieties Copper minerals Crystal shapes Ask some of the students to share their findings with the class or ask them to prepare a report. Activity 2 Prepare an interview Design a tourist brochure explaining the interesting geological features of South Australia. This could be a tour for beautiful gems; one that shows South Australia s ancient history and changes caused from previous ice ages; a tour to explain the stunning Flinders Ranges, or where our mineral wealth comes from. Activity 4 Fill out the activity sheets Teachers need to assess the appropriateness of the activity sheet questions for their particular students. There are more questions than students could be expected to complete in the time available in the gallery. About five pages of questions are suggested for each group. Different groups could have different combinations of questions. (Some cut and paste may be appropriate.) Activity 5 Explore the computers A dozen computer interactives form a significant aspect of In the footsteps of Sir Douglas Mawson gallery. There are two large computer screens, one dealing with glaciers, the other dealing with sedimentary rocks, suitable for whole class instruction. Students can explore in groups to encourage interaction and sharing of perceptions. Topics include igneous rocks, sedimentary rocks, glaciation, geological evidence for climate change, Earth s magnetic field as well as some biological and climatic themes. Mawson in the field

4 Teacher notes 3 Minerals Gallery notes Students can see some of the Museum s mineral specimens in this exhibition. The cases are arranged to highlight the nature of minerals, the major types of minerals, South Australia s major mineral deposits and the important uses of the minerals in our lives. Some of these themes covered are outlined below. Formation of minerals Minerals are formed in different ways. There are examples that have been made from molten rocks, such as carbonatites and granitic pegmatites. Minerals can also crystalise from water, forming evaporites, or from hot saline fluids called hydrothermal solutions. Minerals do not stay the same forever. They are subject to chemical alteration and metamorphose if subjected to high temperature and pressure. Classification of Minerals Many minerals are made up of a metal ion and a non-metal ion. The classification of these minerals is based on the nonmetal ion component. Common minerals and some unusual ones are displayed according to their classification, eg sulphides, halides, oxides, carbonates and others. Mineralogical Rain Forest Meteorite The meteorite exhibit has an excellent diagram showing the probable origin of meteorites. Some are pieces of asteroids that have broken up. The stony meteorites come from the rocky crust of the asteroid, the iron-nickle meteeorites from the heavy core of an asteroid, and the stony-iron meteorites come from the transition layer between the rocky exterior and the metallic interior. Impressive examples of all three of these types from asteroids are on display, and students can touch them. Other meteorites cannot be touched. These include the Murcheson meteorite that is a carbonaceous chondrite a simple aggregation of the primordial dust that preceded the solar system as we know it. Another, even rarer, type of meteorite is thought to be a piece of the planet Mars, flung into space by a huge meteorite impact on that planet. Analysis of gas bubbles in the meteorite match the atmosphere sampled by the recent Martian rovers sent by NASA to the Red Planet. We suspect that pieces of the Earth have been flung into the air in a similar fashion. The splashes of molten rock set solid as they flew through the air, and landed back on Earth thousands of kilometers away as distinctivly-shaped black pebbles known as tektites. Some of these that fell on Australia (called australites) are also in the meteorite display. This section displays the huge range of minerals obtained from the Franklin - Sterling Hill Mine and the Broken Hill Mine. Copper Country South Australian mineral wealth has come from several copper mines. There are examples of the copper minerals mines from the Burra Burra Mine, the Moonta and Wallaroo mines and the richest copper mine in South Australia the Olympic Dam mine. Opal Australia produces over 95% of the world s precious opal. This display explains the origins of opal and how it is made into jewellery. Minerals by Colour The beautiful range of colours that minerals come in is shown in this display.

5 4 In the Footsteps of Sir Douglas Mawson By studying different rocks Mawson could tell the story of their formation. Find the ripple stone in the Flinders Ranges section. What did this rock tell Mawson about conditions in the area long ago? Choose another sedimentary rock. Name it and explain its formation. Igneous rocks show a variety of forms. Find some rocks from the volcano Mount Erebus, or other igneous rocks in the gallery. Describe the difference between any two of them. (Include what the rocks look like as well as how they are formed, if you can.) Rock 1 Rock 2

6 5 In the Footsteps of Sir Douglas Mawson Mawson found evidence that glaciers had covered parts of South Australia. Find information about glaciers (Hint: look near the ice on the eastern wall). Describe two pieces of rock (evidence) that glaciers left behind Rocks are formed over millions of years. The type of rock formed gives evidence about the climate and sea levels at the time. Look at the computer animations Clues to changing Sea Levels which is in the section on geology (western wall) or Australia s Changing Climate which is in the section on weather (eastern side of the hut). Select one period from the computer menue and answer the questions below. The period occured about million years ago. What was the climate or sea level like in this period? What evidence is in the rocks? (hint: click on the evidence button) On the map of Australia, mark where the rock is found.

7 6 Minerals Gallery How many new minerals have been found in South Australia? Crystal shapes Find the pyrite ( fools gold ) in The Nature of Minerals case. What shape are the pyrite crystals? What colour are the pyrite crystals? Look around at the minerals displayed. Find one other shape that crystals form? Name the mineral and describe its shape. Find the largest crystal you can. What mineral is it made from?

8 7 Minerals Gallery Copper Country exhibit Look at the native copper. What colour is it? What are the main colours in minerals that contain copper?. Name some of the minerals that contain copper. On the map of South Australia mark in the location of three copper mines. Choose one of the mines and use it to complete the following:- Copper was discovered in the area. Copper was mined from until This mine is important because An interesting thing about this mine is...

9 8 Minerals Gallery Meteorites exhibit Meteorites are rocks that fall from space to the Earth. There are many different kinds of meteorites. Tick these boxes when you find each different kind. An iron meteorite A stony meteorite A stony-iron meteorite A meteorite from Mars Join the words to the picture to show where the different kinds of meteorite come from. Stony meteorites come from this part. Iron meteorites come from this part. Stony iron meteorites come from this part. View through the middle of an an asteroid.