Classroom Investigations: Minerals - Essential Ingredients in Your Life Teaching Guide

This teaching guide supports the BLM’s effort to educate the public about the importance of minerals from their public lands.  Students learn to identify the various minerals that are used to make all sorts of products, from personal care items and cell phones to kitchen tools and hybrid cars. They also explore the mineral cobalt, and they determine whether it is necessary for the United States to mine it domestically.  By weighing the considerations of mining cobalt, students learn how land managers apply the principle of multiple-use and sustained yield.