Home minerals search: an activity to understand the relationship between geology and society.

Abstract

Despite the relevance of the study of minerals because of their link to everyday life, the curricula's interest in extending it and the students' interest in learning about them is increasingly reduced. Therefore, the teaching-in-context approach becomes an opportunity to promote this topic in the secondary school classroom as it allows students to reflect on the properties and uses of minerals in everyday life. This work presents a synthesis activity in a teaching-learning sequence on minerals for 12-13 years-old Spanish secondary school students. The activity consists of searching for minerals applications in their own home and creating, together with the whole class, a mural of a house showing the location and use of different minerals. The activity allows students to acquire knowledge about minerals while valuing the importance of these socio-scientific issues for their lives, thus linking geology with society. The students were satisfied with the activity's usefulness, interest and attractiveness and perceived progress in their learning about minerals.