The average car is made with over 25 materials extracted from the Earth. Each element, mineral and resource has special properties that make them important in the production and performance of the car. In this activity, students read descriptions and uses of several different minerals and then cut and paste photos of each mineral to its appropriate position on a car poster. Educational levels: Intermediate elementary, Middle school

Christine McLelland

English

Digital Library for Earth System Education

What Earth Materials are in My Subaru? 
By Christine V. McLelland 
 
What does it take to make a car?  Where do the materials come from? 
 
Topic: Rocks and Minerals; Mining 
Grade Level: 5-9 
Standard: Earth and Space Science 
Objective: Relating rocks and minerals to their use in our everyday life. 
Time Required: Varies  
Materials Needed: Copy of mineral sheet 
 Poster or copies of a picture of car (the bigger the better)  
 Pictures of minerals and earth materials listed, cut apart (some pictures follow table) 
Double-sided tape 
 Optional:  Sticky back Velcro hook and loop fasteners; foam board; Super 77 spray adhesive 
PreActivity Question: What is a car made of? 
Directions:  There are several ways to do this activity.  For younger groups, perhaps the poster activity 
listed below may be more appropriate.  For older, do the individual activity. 
Poster Activity: Hang a large poster of a car in the front of the room. Distribute the cut-up pictures of 
the elements and minerals.  Have some double-sided tape ready.  Have students as a group discuss 
each earth material and what it is used for.    As you discuss each material and decide what it is used 
for in the car, have the student with the material come up and put that picture in the right spot on the 
car (for example, the quartz picture can be attached to one of the windows.)  Continue until all are 
finished!  Optional: To make this activity reusable, I printed a picture of the earth materials, spray 
glued it onto foam board, cut out each piece and attached a Velcro hook on the back of each.  I then put 
the other side of the Velcro piece (the loop) onto an appropriate spot on the car.  Then the students can 
take their small foam board piece, stick it on to the Velcro, and you can take it off and reuse it for 
another class. 
Individual Activity: Give each student or pair of students a copy of a picture of a car.  Give each group 
a sheet with all the earth materials on it.  Have them cut out each mineral and figure out where to place 
it on the car while reading the handout.  Tape the picture to the correct spot.  
Evaluation: Have students write a concluding statement about the activity.  Ask them leading 
questions that will bring them to the realization that there are many, many minerals used to make items 
that we use everyday (i.e. were you surprised at how many different earth materials are used to make a 
car?  Where do all of these earth materials come from?  How do we get them?).  Good lead in to a 
discussion or activity on mining. 
 
For some nice color pictures of the elements or minerals, contact me and I will email them to you to 
print and use. 
 
Author: Christine McLelland, Subaru Distinguished Earth Science Educator, 2002-2003, Geological 
Society of America, Boulder, CO: subaruteacher@geosociety.org
What Earth Materials are in My Subaru? 
 
The average car is made with over 30 materials extracted from the Earth!  
Each element, mineral and resource* listed below has special properties 
that make them important in the production and performance of the car. 
After reading the descriptions below, take each available picture of the resource and 
place it in the appropriate position on the car poster.  See how many you can get right! 
 
Name of 
material 
Amount 
in lbs. 
Use  
Aluminum  240  Light metal used in body of car. 
Antimony Trace Used to make car upholstery fire resistant. 
Asbestos 1.2  Used in brake pads. 
Barium Trace Used to coat electrical conductors in the ignition 
system. 
Cadmium Trace Electrolytically deposited as a coating on metals (steel) 
to form a chemically resistant coating. 
Carbon 46 Used to make iron ore into steel.  Steel contains 1% 
carbon.  Also used to add strength to rubber. 
Clays Trace Used to make ceramics in engine (ex. spark plugs) 
Coal NA Used to make electricity to produce autos. 
Cobalt Trace Makes thermally resistant alloys** (‘superalloys’) in 
engine. 
Copper 42  Used for wiring throughout automobile. 
Fluorspar Trace Directly or indirectly used to manufacture aluminum, 
gasoline and steel. 
Gallium Trace Used in mirrors, transistors and LEDs. 
Gold Trace Used in the electronics systems. 
Iron Ore (see 
MAGNETITE) 
4960  Used to make steel for the frame and engine of the 
auto. 
Lead (see 
GALENA) 
24 From the mineral galena, used in the battery. (960 lbs. 
of lead ore needed) 
Magnesium 4.4 An alloy used to strengthen aluminum and zinc. 
Manganese 17.6 Makes an alloy with steel that is tough and resistant to 
wear for parts such as the axles, pistons, crank shafts 
and gears. Used in batteries. 
Molybdenum 1.0 Used to strengthen steel and lubricants. 
Mica Trace Fills the shocks. 
Nickel 9.0  Used as plating for stainless steel. 
Nitrogen Trace Used for ceramic materials (spark plugs) and in battery. 
Oxygen Varies Used for the combustion in engine. 
Palladium Trace Used as an alloy in electrical contacts. 
Petroleum (see 
gusher, oil rigs, 
and pipeline 
pictures) 
980 From petroleum we produce plastics (used for the body 
and interior), rubber tires, paint, synthetic fabrics, 
gasoline and lubricating oils.  Also to make electricity 
used in the production of the auto. 
Quartz sand 170 Used for silica to make glass (85 lbs.) 
Silicon 41  Ceramic components. 
Strontium Trace Used for phosphorescent paint on dials. 
Sulfur 2 Used in battery. 
Tin Trace Alloys with copper, makes solder and lead. 
Titanium Trace Used to make metallic alloys and as a substitute for 
aluminum.  Also used in paint, lacquers, plastics and 
rubber. 
Tungsten Trace Used in filament of light bulbs and for spark plug 
manufacturing. 
Vanadium 1 Used to form alloys that are tough and resist fatigue.  
Used in axles, crank shafts, gears and other critical 
components. 
Zinc Ore 18 (720 
of zinc 
ore) 
Galvanizes screws to be resistant to rust and corrosion. 
As a filler in rubber tires.  Auto industry is the largest 
consumer. 
Zirconium Trace Alloy of steel and glass, and used in light bulb filaments. 
* A mineral is an inorganic, solid, homogeneous, crystalline chemical element or 
compound with a set chemical formula; broadly, a mineral or earth material is: any of 
various naturally occurring homogeneous substances (such as stone, coal, salt, sulfur, 
sand, petroleum, water, or natural gas) obtained usually from the ground. 
 
**An alloy is a substance containing two or more metals, usually created because it has 
certain more desirable properties than the original metal (ex. stronger, more ductile.) 
 
NA = figure not available 
These materials are mined in the United States and imported from other countries  
every day.  These numbers are from a variety of sources. 
 
Christine McLelland, Subaru Distinguished Earth Science Educator, Geological Society of America 
subaruteacher@geosociety.org. Some weight figures from Western Mining Council, Rand-El Paso 
Mountains Chapter; others from www.mii.org (Mineral Information Institute). 
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What Earth Materials Are In My Subaru?

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What Earth Materials Are In My Subaru?

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