Tell the students that we will not be breaking any minerals to observe cleave. It is sometime difficult to tell the difference between crystal shape and cleavage unless you break the sample yourself. In some cases the crystal shapes and the cleavage are identical. Halite is one example. You can allow students to look at salt under a microscope to see that it has the same shape as the large halite sample in our set. Quartz on the other hand grows in beautiful crystal shapes.
Tell the students that we will not be breaking any minerals to observe cleave. It is sometime difficult to tell the difference between crystal shape and cleavage unless you break the sample yourself. In some cases the crystal shapes and the cleavage are identical. Halite is one example. You can allow students to look at salt under a microscope to see that it has the same shape as the large halite sample in our set. Quartz on the other hand grows in beautiful crystal shapes.