What are minerals? Where do their fascinating colours and amazing shapes come from? Do minerals have any use for us? On a discovery-filled tour through the exhibition, the pupils learn everything they need to know about the beauty, diversity and use of minerals.

Only the Mineralogy for Beginners guide is available in English. The other school programmes can only be booked in German.

Each school programme can be combined with the Mineralogy for Beginners student tour.

What does ‘rock’ mean? What do they consist of? How can they be distinguished? Granite, basalt, sandstone and gneiss serve as examples of stone’s characteristics. In addition, their composition is explained. Natural occurrence of the four Saxon stones is located on a topographic map. Finally, the use is demonstrated in order to get a homeland affiliation. So, which kind of stone was used for the reconstruction of the Frauenkirche in Dresden?

Why is the mountain range on our doorstep named after ore? What do ores have to do with minerals? Which ores were so important that the Erzgebirge received the title UNESCO World Heritage? The pupils discover which minerals were mined in their homeland, which objects were created from them and which important inventions they led to.

Where do volcanoes come from? Is one volcano like another? What exactly happens when it erupts? What minerals can I find there? Models, small games and exciting experiments show the pupils what is hidden behind the legendary mountains of fire. Finally, the mineral diversity of volcanic deposits is discovered in the exhibition.

If minerals crystallize, special structures and shapes emerge. There are more than 200 crystal forms and, among them, five stand out by regularity: the platonic solids. Pupils deal with those regular polyhedra and, by using ‘Euler characteristic’, find out their specific attributes. As practical application, the surface of a pentagondodecahedron is calculated. This platonic solid is tinkered by pupils as well. Finally, the crystal forms are observed in real life.

Silver is valuable because it was used to make coins and jewellery, and it is also found in almost all areas of our lives. This is due to its special properties. The students get to know the mineral silver in all its variations: From its modern application in electrical engineering, medicine or as food to its historical significance for minting coins and mining in the Ore Mountains, which led to the title of UNESCO World Heritage Site for the Ore Mountains.

Carbon is the most important element in life. Its most famous modifications are graphite and diamond. Pupils work on knowledge regarding development, structure, atomic structure and their use. Further, not only historic relations, e.g. the emergence of the measuring unit carat, are explained but also modern aspects, e.g. synthetic production of diamonds.

Quartz is one of the most common minerals of the earth’s crust. It is a base material regarding glass-making. Pupils learn which changes occur during processing into glass. In addition, they learn which types of glass exist and how they are used in everyday life.

The origin of igneous rocks, metamorphic rocks and sediments are in the focus of interest. According to their development, rocks show a characteristic structure and, therefore, they can be distinguished. By those basics, pupils can identify as well as classify different samples. So, pupils get a basic insight into petrography.

Which minerals can be found where in Germany? How are our low mountain ranges structured? What mineral raw materials are hidden there? In groups, individual German low mountain ranges and deposits are explored geographically and geologically. Each group presents its findings to the class plenary in a short guided tour.