You'll need: 
a magnifying glass 
the unglazed back of a ceramic tile 
pennies 
nail 
metal nail file  
glass jar 
paper and pencil 
some mineral samples  

Some minerals, quartz, for example, are pretty easy to find yourself.  You can also visit a rock shop if you can't go rock collecting yourself.  

Record the description, name or number of your minerals in a column on the left-hand side of your paper.  Use your hand lens to examine your mineral samples.  Record your findings in separate columns with headings for each category. 

Luster 

If a mineral reflects light it has luster.  Minerals which which reflect light like a shiny metal surface have metallic luster.  Minerals which reflect some light have non-metallic luster.  Record which type of luster your samples have.  Some minerals have no luster! 

Streak 

Some minerals, quartz, for example,  have more than one color.  Finding the streak color, which is always the same, can help to identify your sample. To find out the streak of your mineral sample, scratch each sample on the unglazed back of your ceramic tile.  Record the color of each streak as you discover it.  Minerals which have a light streak are sometimes difficult to see unless you have an unglazed black tile.  Try tilting your tile and looking carefully.  If the mineral you are testing is harder than the streak plate, it will leave no streak at all. 

Hardness 

You can use the scratch test to find out the hardness of your samples.  The hardness of a mineral is always the same, even if the color is different.  Use the following scale to find out the relative hardness of your mineral sample. 

Very soft-scratched by a fingernail 
Soft-can be scratched by a penny, but not a fingernail 
Medium-scratches glass 
Hard- scratches metal nail file.