Reddit reviews National Audubon Society Field Guide to Rocks and Minerals: North America (National Audubon Society Field Guides)

Get him one of the small rock id books with lots of pictures (like http://www.amazon.com/National-Audubon-Society-American-Minerals/dp/0394502698/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1368484350&sr=1-1&keywords=rock+guide). Even if he's barely reading, he can match pictures to the rocks and you can read it with him.

And yeah, don't throw away his rocks. If space in the house becomes an issue, help him create a rock garden in the yard and mark off an area for him.

My parents have cute pictures of me when I was really little walking holding up pants with pockets bulging and so full of rocks that they wouldn't stay up. If he wants to bring too many home, you can make a rule about only the top 3 or 5 or give him a specific box or bag and he can't bring home more than will fit in that item from each trip.

When you travel, look online for cool rock spots or neat geology opportunities where you're going to tie in his hobby with family events. It will make him feel special and feed his love.

Very cool of you to work to support your kid's inquisitive nature.

Yes. Yes. Yes. Always build a strong relationship with your professor and classmates. The most important thing you can do is to look at as many resources as possible beyond your assigned text to fully learn a new concept. If you just can't grasp a concept, make sure when you go to a professor or classmate for help approach them with the knowledge you have gained opposed to stating that you simply don't know anything.

As far as my experience I was better at lab work, but when it came to the straight theoretical and conceptual I always had trouble. There are always folks in the same boat as you and quite frankly their weaknesses might be your strengths.

I actually learned the very basic fundamentals using Audubon's field guide to rock and mineral identification beyond my assigned text. It covers the very basic to the complex compositions, structures, and formation. Link to Field Guide

Well, first we have to acknowledge that rocks are different than minerals. And both require different identification. For minerals, u/guaranic has given a good start. Other things to think about to add to u/guaranic are, crystal structure (what shape does it form naturally) and cleavage (how does it break, does it break straight along one plane, two?). The good news is often, though not always, these are observable and most times related. A mineral that does not break along a plane also has no cleavage which also may be a tell.

Now a mineral is composed of one type of element or compound. A rock is composed of minerals. With rocks, in order to learn identification you must first have an understanding of the three main types of rocks: Igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic. Each produces a different rock with different things to look for.

Igneous: Igneous rocks are formed from cooling magma, literally liquid minerals. I've is a naturally forming mineral, water is its magma. When you see frost condense on a windshield on a cold day you can see points where the ice began to freeze and grow outward untill it touches another forming ice sheet. Those center points are where the crystal is seeded and how large that seed can grow will corespond with how cold it is. The colder it is the more seeds will start and more crystals with less room to grow means many small crystals. Slower cooling allows larger crystal formation with less crystals to get in the way. In igneous rocks, often crystal size is a good place to start. Are there large crystals? Than this rock most likely formed deeper in gound. Lots of tiny crystals? This probably cooled more rapidly as it approached the surface. Another thing to look at when beginning is the color of the rock over all. basltic lava is less viscous and very dark, often black. It forms oceanic crust . Andesitic lava is a mix between basaltic and rhyolitic, and produces brown and grey rocks like andesite! Rhyolitic magma is the most viscous and most common for us. It's magma doesn't flow like the stereotypical lava in movies. It forms lighter rocks, think granite. With crystal size and general mineral composition, you should be able to tell most types of igneous with some observation.

Sedimentary: sedimentary rocks are made up of broken down rock and minerals. Identification mostly comes down to partial size. However once you grab the basic size differences, the source of the material may also have a play in identification.

Metamorphic: Metamorphic rocks are igneous and sedimentary rocks that have been exposed to hi heat and pressure. This changes the organization of the crystals often times makeing foliation, a good indicator of metamorphic rock. Yet non foliated rocks do exist and are out there and may be hard to distinguish.



The best way to learn how to identify rocks and minerals is to honestly study, and practice. I like this book as a place to start. With good pictures, clear descriptions and fun facts, it was where I got my foot in the door. As well as the Audubon guid. But really once you read a little to get to know what your looking for you can start to figure it out. Although it may not always be as simple as looking at something and knowing what is. You may need to get samples and test things. Minerals may look similar. Some metamorphic rocks you might mistake for igneous. You just got to start by knowing where to look to get a good hunch and an educated guess.

Get a good mineral/rock ID book (I suggest buying this one ahead of time).

You will probably have really good mineral specimens in lab so you won't need a hand lens just yet, but you should buy one anyway (I suggest this one).

When the semester starts, spend a lot of time in lab alone looking at the minerals and memorizing a few key characteristics (name, formula, crystal habit, hardness, streak) of each one. Seriously, get used to being in there on the weekend, bring a beer (brown bag it). If you are good at identifying minerals in hand specimen, it will help out tremendously when you get into Petrology and out in the field. Don't rely on your instructor alone, look around for mineralogy websites from other universities. I found this series of lectures by Doug Haywick to be helpful.

Not quite sure what you're asking, but the Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Rocks and Minerals has a nice little section showcasing cut and rough gems side-by-side. The word "gem" covers a vast number of very diverse rocks and minerals, so I'm not sure there are too many generalizations to be made.

If you just want a reference for IDing rocks in the field. This is a pretty good book for that.

If you actually want to learn about how minerals form/chemistry and structure. This textbook is a good one, but I may be biased because Dexter was my mineralogy instructor.

I have a few geology guide books, but by far my favorite is my Audubon society field guide to rocks and minerals. It encompasses many different kinds of rocks and minerals, and has clear pictures of each one along with more information about various characteristics of each one, how they are formed, how to identify them, etc... The Audubon society always does a great job with their field guides, and for someone interested in geology I guarantee it will not disappoint.

Here is the link to the guide on amazon. I know the book is geared toward North America but I imagine it will still work in Europe. Enjoy!

I think the layered rock is sedimentary, the regular patterns indicate seasonal depositions. So it is sort of like tree rings. There are some good books on rocks, you will learn a lot more by reading a few.

For books:

• Someone the other day posted [this link] (http://earthds.info/) to a basic introductory textbook which may tide you over.
  -I find this field book to be the best newbie friendly to "what's that rock?"
  
• Raiding your local thrift store/used books for anything geology related may help.
  
  Get your students to talk about geology they've seen in their life to connect it to what's being taught in lecture. I'm learning more about the natural history and geology of my home city of L.A. on the opposite coast than I did living there for half my life by talking in class.

http://www.amazon.com/National-Audubon-Society-American-Minerals/dp/0394502698