Preparation for Group Activity 1

 

For the group activity on Friday (1/28), spend an hour or two to find information about the element assigned to your group. You can see your group and your assigned element on the course web page ("group list" link).  It need not be exhaustive because every member of your group will also be finding information that will hopefully be complementary. 

 

You must bring at least 2 pages of materials (photocopies, printouts) in to class that you have found from searching web or library.

 

Besides the atomic structure of your element, other questions your group will be attempting to answer are related to

(a) the abundance of your element in the Earth,

(b) what minerals containing your element are mined,

(c) the geological environments with which the minerals are associated, (d) the worldwide current and past production (amount and main countries) of your element,

(e) the current/past prices of your element on the world market,

(f) the primary uses of your element in today's society,

(g) the environmental problems associated with mining of the minerals (like air, water pollution and health of miners and processors) and

(h) the environmental problems associated with the element in general (like health of people and ecosystems in modern applications or disposal), etc.

 

Pages 256-258 of Mackenzie text may help with some of the questions.