plain jane Posted December 20, 2012 Share Posted December 20, 2012 I'd like to buy a streak plate and a glass plate (for hardness tests) for the kids to experiment with. I'm wondering are these things resuable for different rocks and minerals or do you use one per test/rock? I'm wondering how many of them I should purchase for the year. I don't remember ever doing this so this is new to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Acorn Posted December 20, 2012 Share Posted December 20, 2012 Reusable until totally scratched. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NittanyJen Posted December 20, 2012 Share Posted December 20, 2012 It depends upon how crazy you go :). We got through a whole kit of about 25 samples on one streak plate with no problem. Then again, they shouldn't be very expensive-- if you are going to go on field trips and collect minerals to test all year and thus need a lot, you can a 10-pack for $12 on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Glass-Streak-Plates-10-Pack/dp/B007A4J7VM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1355963175&sr=8-1&keywords=mineral+streak+plate That should last you quite a while. For more advice on mineral testing, The Happy Scientist (Robert Krampf) has a unit study on Rocks and Minerals that we went through. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redsquirrel Posted December 20, 2012 Share Posted December 20, 2012 I used one kit last year. It came with a rather small scratch plate and it was sufficient. That said, my kids didn't want to test every single rock they found. What they found very exciting was putting the acid on the rock to see if it reacted. Now that they did want to do on every single rock they found! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sahamamama Posted December 20, 2012 Share Posted December 20, 2012 I'd like to recommend that you get a subscription to The Happy Scientist. It's only $20 per year, well-worth it (IMO), and he has plenty of great video resources on many topics. See especially his study units on Rocks & Minerals. They are excellent. He shows exactly what to do with the streak test. HTH. [Note: You can see a lot more content when you subscribe. And I am not in any way related to this person, LOL, I just think his site is wonderful]. http://thehappyscientist.com/study-unit/rocks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sahamamama Posted December 20, 2012 Share Posted December 20, 2012 It depends upon how crazy you go :). We got through a whole kit of about 25 samples on one streak plate with no problem. Then again, they shouldn't be very expensive-- if you are going to go on field trips and collect minerals to test all year and thus need a lot, you can a 10-pack for $12 on Amazon: http://www.amazon.co...eak plate��That should last you quite a while. For more advice on mineral testing, The Happy Scientist (Robert Krampf) has a unit study on Rocks and Minerals that we went through. Oh, wow, Jen -- You beat me to it! LOL! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plain jane Posted December 20, 2012 Author Share Posted December 20, 2012 I'd like to recommend that you get a subscription to The Happy Scientist. It's only $20 per year, well-worth it (IMO), and he has plenty of great video resources on many topics. See especially his study units on Rocks & Minerals. They are excellent. He shows exactly what to do with the streak test. HTH. [Note: You can see a lot more content when you subscribe. And I am not in any way related to this person, LOL, I just think his site is wonderful]. http://thehappyscientist.com/study-unit/rocks Great, thank you!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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