Education
Mineral Reference Sites

Types of Rocks

(click on the title to go to the website)

Kids Love Rocks

This educational site is a great resource for young rock and mineral collectors and hobbyists.  Learn about rocks, minerals, and everything related to the earth. Learn why it is important to keep your minerals safe and how to organize your collection. All of this info and a free set of mineral labels can be found in the guide to collecting.

Annenberg Learner

Teacher resources and professional development site. One section on Interactives Rock Cycle with topics such as types of rocks, how rocks change, and a rock cycle diagram. Has a neat quiz at the end.

Wikipedia – List of rock types

A list of all unique rock types recognized by petrologists. Names of non-rock types and archaic rock types are given as appendices. The site also has a good list of external links on the topic.

You Tube videos

A 10:55 minute video on “Three Main Rock Types”. Many other videos on the topic are referenced also.

On-Line Rockhound Education

Mineralogy4Kids

A great web site presented by the Mineralogical Society of America. The site contains a study of Mineral Groups; Mineral Properties; Mineral Identification; a unique discussion of Minerals in Your House; All About Crystals; a discussion of the Rock Cycle; and some great Mineral Games. Even though it is designed for kids, I would say kids of all ages.

Rock and Mineral Identification

A 19 minute YouTube video study guide made for the students of Fleming College in Lindsay Ontario, Canada and for anybody else who might find it useful. If you like this video, the author has many more for your viewing pleasure.

Minerals.net – The Mineral & Gemstone Kingdom

Minerals.net was started in 1996 as an interactive and educational guide to rocks, minerals, and gemstones. It was one of the first of its kind providing detailed information of these topics in an interactive setting. Minerals.net contains research pages of hundreds of minerals, indexed and categorized, as well as various documents on mineral topics. The site had been growing steadily since its inception, and had increased in search engine rankings to become one of the top sites under both keywords “minerals” and “gemstones”. Minerals.net currently has over 350,000 monthly visitors and is just shy of a million pageviews per month.

Mineralogical Society of America

This particular web page contains “Mineral-Related Links”. Think of it as an extensive index where you can probably find specific information that you searching for, such as Mineral and Petrology Databases; Igneous Rock Databases; Dictionaries; Sites devoted to (K-12) education; Tutorials & Courses; and much, much more.

Geodes

rocksandminerals4u

Geodes are like the Tootsie Roll Pop of the geology world because underneath the hard exterior lies a surprise center! How do you get a hollow rock with lots of sparkling crystals inside? First you need a hollow rock. Geodes start their lives as a hollow bubble inside a layer of rock. The bubble could be from air inside explosive volcanic rock or it could come from the hollow remains of animal burrows or tree roots.

Scienceline – Where do geodes come from?

It turns out that what looks like a solid entity on the outside begins with an absence of material. A geode typically begins when a cavity forms in a rock, which can happen several ways.


Magazines (or e-zines) about Rocks, Minerals and Lapidary

Rock & Gem.

Since 1971, Rock & Gem has been the leading magazine for the lapidary and mineral hobbyist. Not a trade journal and not a scientific dissertation, it speaks to the average rockhound, providing just the right blend of entertainment and satisfying information. Armchair hobbyists and diehard diggers alike will find something to enjoy in each issue.

The Mineralogical Record.

This is the most authoritative and widely respected mineral collector’s journal in the world; no serious advanced collector would be without it. Over the years many newcomers to the field have learned from it the extensive information they need to go from novice to expert—and to have fun in the process.

Mineral News.

Mineral News was founded more than twenty years ago by Lanny Ream of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, author of the book “Idaho Minerals”. Over the years, it developed a following of avid mineral collectors seeking timely information about new finds and other items of interest to the collector community.

Rocks & Minerals – For Everyone Interested in Minerals, Rocks & Fossils.

Rocks & Minerals works with the Mineralogical Society of America to promote cooperation between collectors and professional mineralogists. The magazine is affiliated with the Friends of Mineralogy as well as the Midwest Federation of Mineralogical and Geological Societies and the Eastern Federation of Mineralogical and La

books for rockhounds

DesertUSA – Southwest  Rock and Gift Shop

This is a famous series of books with detailed maps and descriptive text leading the rockhound to the best collecting sites for gems, minerals and fossils for different states. Links to the DK Rocks and Minerals which combines 600 color photos with descriptions of more than 500 specimens.

MineralTown.com

Another great listing of rocks and mineral books with order through Amazon.com.

Amazon

And of course, books on Amazon.com.

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Cobb County Gem & Mineral Society