Abstract
Expert systems are computer programs that answer questions by evaluating a series of predetermined rules. Traditionally, expert systems in geology are used for identification of minerals and rocks, where a user answers a sequence of questions about physical properties that ideally leads to a correct identification. In this exercise, students build individual expert systems for identification of minerals in the physical-geology laboratory, but the purpose here is to teach the logic of mineral identification. This occurs when students construct the set of rules (induction tables) for their individual expert systems. We used WordPerfect to construct the tables of rules and VP Expert to build the expert systems. This exercise may be used to complement instruction of hand-specimen identification of minerals in physical geology or earth science classes and may be extended easily to other tasks, such as rock or fossil identification.
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