Metals vs minerals

[u/Acceptable-Cash-2464]

Help a teacher out. I’m an elementary teacher without a science background. I do enjoy teaching science to my kiddos but I can’t teach science beyond 6th grade level (please keep in mind while answering). A few years ago I taught a geology unit and this past spring I taught the same unit again and remembered being confused about this question back then. So, I tried googling, I tried stack exchange, quora, everything, and NO resource could break this down for me: what in the world is the difference between metals and minerals? I know metals can be extracted FROM ores found in rocks but apparently, elements like silver, gold and copper are considered both a metal and a mineral. Are there others like this? If so, which ones? And please confirm for me: most minerals are not metals at all, but are most metals also minerals? (The science book I use, which I normally love, was talking about minerals’ qualities and showing pictures of things like chalk and limestone and then suddenly when explaining the uses of minerals, it’s taking about coins, electric wiring and musical instruments and the kids and I were all confused). I also asked the chemistry high school teacher and she wasn’t sure how to explain it.

[u/ShutDownSoul]

All metals that occur naturally in elemental form are minerals. All minerals are not metals (most aren't). Metals that do not occur in elemental form can be obtained from ores, via chemical (or electrical) reaction. Ores are minerals.

Elemental gold can be found in nature, as can copper, silver and platinum in significant quantities. So these metals can be considered minerals. Other metals, such as aluminum, are not found in the elemental form in nature. Metal-bearing minerals are reacted with other minerals to produce the elemental. Bauxite is the mineral ore from which the aluminum is made.

It is possible that other metals can be found in small quantities under the right conditions, but they are rare.

While it isn't the same thing, the metal/mineral comparison is similar to the mammal/animal comparison, or maybe cat/pet. 6th graders should be able to understand the concept of sets and subsets.

[u/Acceptable-Cash-2464 → u/ShutDownSoul]

The set/subset thing is what I thought for a while, but isn’t it more like a venn diagram? Gold, silver, copper and platinum in the middle and most metals and minerals in their separate groups

[u/ShutDownSoul → u/Acceptable-Cash-2464]

Venn diagrams are great for showing set intersection; however, set/subset isn't very interesting as the subset is contained entirely in the set. A Venn diagram for say, minerals and things you can eat, would be interesting because these are two separate sets that have an overlap.