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.