Pre-visit learning: student activities, project ideas and questions

TASK 1: Rock Salt

This initial task of getting salt from rock salt set is one still often taught at secondary school. Resist the temptation to do it like the science book in the library. Challenge your students, let them try their suggestions then review what they have achieved from each attempt, then let them try their new ideas. They will solve the problem with your guidance. And they will develop a greater appreciation of the processes needed to get gold from a mountain.

1. Show the class a large piece of rock salt and some table salt.
2. Have a glass, a saucer, a sieve, some coffee filter papers, a pestle and mortar all displayed to give the students hints to the steps needed.
3. How do we turn this dirty rock into salt like this that we can put on our dinner?

In groups:

• Discuss the problem and suggest a step.
• Suggestions will probably include wash it, crush it, sieve it.

Let them try their ideas. The first experiments are unlikely to produce salt, but they are very important and help to develop the idea of working scientifically.

Discuss their results:

• Can we use what they have done? Is it a step on the way?
• What if we wash the crushed rock?
• How about sieving that - need very fine sieve!
• Where is the salt? Talk about sugar in tea.
• How do we get it back?

Order of tasks:

• Crush to stop the rock and salt from being joined to each other
• Dissolve the salt into the water
• Filter the rock from the salt water
• Evaporate, or boil, the water from the salt
• Taste the salt
• Recap: To get what we want from what we find in the ground we may have to go through a series of processes

TASK 2: How do we find gold?

• What is Gold and what do we do with it?
  • Use Resource 1
• Where do we find it?
  • Gold prospecting - historical links if wanted - cross-curricular theme.
• In what form is the gold when we find it?
  • Depends where it is found
• How can we collect the gold?
  • Introduce panning for gold and discuss how the process works. Use Resource 2

TASK 3: Mining at Mount Morgan

Use the Slideshow and focus questions included in this resource.

The Queensland Heritage Trails Network CD is also worth viewing prior to the visit.

• Where is Mount Morgan?
• Why did it get its name?
• Who found out that gold was in the mountain?
• How was it found?
• How would you go about collecting the gold?

Try visiting: How to Mine and Prospect for Placer Gold

TASK 4: Acid Mine Drainage

• Resource 5 introduces the concept of Acids.
• Carry out the experiment of making an indicator and investigating acids and bases.
• Explain about the testing of the water to be undertaken at Mount Morgan.
• Use commercial indicator papers or a proper test kit to get good results from their samples of the water at the Dam and that in the River Dee near the swinging bridge.

The Science Visit Suggestions

The following activities/sites need to be built into the day:

• The Mine Tour
  • To include gold panning if wanted.
• The Museum.
  • To view machinery involved in separation processes.
• The Lookout
  • To view the scale of the mine
• Dam No. 7
  • To collect water samples above the mine site.
• The swinging bridge
  • To collect samples below the mine and see the landscape.

Map

Click here to view map of Mount Morgan.