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Grade 3 Science · World 1: Rock Hounds · Level 3
Luster
Tell metallic luster (shines like metal) from nonmetallic luster.
Warm-up, learn, try it together, practice, then a quick check. About 15 minutes.
What children learn in Level 3
- Luster is the way a mineral shines in light. Hold it up and look!
- Metallic luster shines like metal, like a coin or a gold ring. Pyrite has metallic luster. It looks so much like gold that people call it fool's gold!
- Nonmetallic luster doesn't shine like metal. It might look glassy, pearly, or dull. Quartz looks glassy, but it's nonmetallic.
Georgia Standards of Excellence in Science:
- S3E1.a — Ask questions and analyze data to classify rocks by their physical attributes (color, texture, luster, and hardness) using simple tests. (Clarification statement: Mohs scale should be studied at this level. Cleavage, streak and the classification of rocks as sedimentary, igneous, and metamorphic are studied in sixth grade.)