Mining: Cupcake Core Samples

Following one of the mining activities, begin a discussion about of the cost of mining… it’s too expensive to just dig a hole in the ground in hopes of finding gold… how could a mine operator determine what’s in there before going through the expense of digging…

Prep Work:

Prepare cupcakes – one for each student. You’ll want to get the foil cupcake “papers” – you don’t want the students to see through the paper.

Begin with a white cake mix. Mix the batter according to the directions. Before placing the batter into cupcake papers, divide the batter into several different bowls. Color the batter in each bowl a different color. Make the cupcakes by placing spoonfuls of at least 2 colors of batter into the cupcake paper. After baking, frost the cupcakes.

Materials:

Layers of clay
Apple Corer
Cupcakes
Straws, cut in half
Plastic knives

Procedure:
Brainstorm ideas for finding out what’s under the earth’s surface without digging.

Demonstrate core sampling with layers of clay and the apple corer.

Each student will get a cupcake and a straw to do some core sampling.

Students use the straws to “drill” in three spots across the middle of the cupcake (the holes need to be made in a line across the cupcake, not a triangle). After the sample’s been drilled, gently blow the sample out of the straw.

Students draw their observations of each sample. (By the way, I've never had the core samples fall apart as badly as they did this time - the cupcakes didn't sit for as long as they usually do and I think that made the difference).

After taking and recording three samples, students make a hypothesis about what the cross-section of the cupcake looks like.

Students use a plastic knife to cut through the cupcake (through the 3 holes) to view the cross-section.

Students draw their observations before eating the evidence.

Conclusion:
Compare evidence with hypothesis.
Thoughts on the lab.

Measurement Homework

This could be completed in the classroom or as a homework assignment.

Find an object in or around your house that is approximately each of the following measurements long. After measuring the object, write the name of the object next to the measurement it’s closest to in length and record the exact measurement of the object (remember to measure to the tenths place!).

Target Measurement Object Actual Measurement
1 cm
2 cm
3 cm
etc.


You could also have students guess which measurement their object will be closest to before measuring.

If you have students who might not have a centimeter ruler at home (or at least claim that they don’t), you can print off paper rulers here.

Check their accuracy after photocopying, just to make sure. Mine have worked out well in the past.

How Does That Work: Frustration Bottles

There are so many things you can talk about with this demonstration: solubility, density, immiscibility, etc.  It also makes a good How Does That Work demonstration. 

In short:

You have three bottles, each made of two layers, but in one bottle the layers are reversed.  The bottles are filled with water (on the bottom) and baby oil (on the top).  In two of the bottles, the water is colored with water soluble food dye (which will color water but not oil).  In the third bottle, the oil is colored with liquid candle dye (which will color oil, but not water).

In long:

You'll need:

3 (500mL) water bottles

750 mL baby oil

750 mL water

food coloring

liquid candle dye

Fill 2 of the bottles with 250 mL of water.  Fill the remaining bottle with 250 mL of baby oil.

Use the candle dye to color the baby oil (do this before coloring the water - the water and food coloring are much more forgiving and easier to dispose of should you need to start over).

Use the food coloring to color the water, attempting to match the oil color as best you can.  Keep track of what you used and repeat with the second water bottle.

Into the bottle with the oil, add 250 mL of water.

Into the two bottles with water, add 250 mL of baby oil to each.  Cap.  (You may wish to run some glue along the cap so they are more resistant to being opened).

Leave the bottles on your front table/desk and let the students explore.  They'll try to turn the "wrong" one upside down.  They may try to shake them and then watch them separate.

Should lead to some good discussions!

You can keep these forever - put them in a safe spot until you need them the next time!

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How Does That Work is a series of products and demonstrations that you can present to your students and challenge them to explain the science of how they work. Make sure you decide ahead of time what you'll accept as a valid explanation - can it be printed straight off the internet, written in the student's own words, or does the student need to be able to explain it to you conversationally? What will a valid explanation earn the student - a prize, extra credit, a feeling of goodness?

Rate of Solution: Sugar Cubes

I did this with 4th grade students who were learning about solutions. It's simple, but they have a good time and learn a little something in the process!

For each pair of students, you'll need:
-Cup/Beaker
-4 Sugar Cubes
-Spoon
-Stopwatch

For the whole class:
-Hot Water
-Room Temperature Water
-A means of crushing sugar cubes

Provide each pair of students with a cup (clear is better - it's hard to see a white sugar cube in a white cup) of room temperature water.

Have them drop a whole sugar cube into the water and time how long it takes for the cube to dissolve (no stirring).

This is their baseline measurement. They'll now test several variables, one at a time.

With a fresh cup of room temperature water, drop in a whole sugar cube and time how long it takes for it to dissolve when you STIR it.

With another fresh cup of room temperature water, drop in a CRUSHED sugar cube and time how long it takes to dissolve (no stirring).

Get a cup of HOT WATER, drop in a whole sugar cube and time how long it takes to dissolve (no stirring).


There are several ways to conclude this experiment. Try one or more...
1 - Have students create bar graphs of the data:
-Room Temperature water vs. hot water
-Stirring vs. not
-Crushed cube vs. whole cube

2 - After students have analyzed their data, have them race to see who can dissolve their sugar cube the fastest. They've got three choices to make: hot or room temperature water, will they stir or not, and will they use a crushed cube or a whole cube.

3 - Along the same lines as #2, have a contest where students try to prevent a sugar cube from dissolving for as long as possible.

Microscopes: Index Card Slides

Early in your study of microscopes, before students start preparing their own slides, have them create index card slides - it's easy, and they work under a microscope.

Cut an index card in half, length-wise.

Punch a hole in the center of the card.

Place a piece of tape over the hole. 

Use the sticky part of the tape to pick up something (dust, fabric fuzz, pepper, etc.).

Place a second piece of tape over the hole, on the other side of the card, enclosing the captured material.

Label the slide.

View.

Minerals: Introductory Activities

It worked out, one year, that I had to be away from school on the first day of my mineral unit.  I wanted to get started on minerals, and not fill the day with unrelated fluff, so I came up with these activities, which were simple for a sub to implement, but still related to the topic at hand.

Know/Want to Know

This is a pretty classic activity, in which students record the things they already know about the topic and they things they'd like to learn during the course of the unit.  This can be used for any topic, science or non-science.  Maybe not the most exciting, but a good starting point. 

Mineral/Rock ABCs

I challenged my students to find a mineral or rock that starts with each letter of the alphabet.  I left a bunch of books around that they could use.  It got them looking at pictures of minerals and at least a little familiar with the names of some of them.

Mineral/Rock Scavenger Hunt

I challenged the students to spend some time looking around the classroom and to list as many things as they could find that were made of/from rocks and minerals.

Air Pressure: Balloon in a Flask

Put a small amount of water in the bottom of a flask.

Place the flask over a burner or on a hot plate until the water begins to boil.

Turn off the heat and stretch a balloon over the flask opening.

Allow the flask to cool.  You can speed this up by placing the whole flask in ice water. 

The balloon is pushed into the flask.

Why:

When the water is heated, the molecules speed up and many of the escape the flask.  The balloon, placed over the opening, prevents the air molecules from re-entering the flask as it cools.  In addition, there are lots of air molecules on the outside of the flask and balloon, and they no longer meet much resistance, so they push the balloon into the flask.

If you're at home, and don't have a flask or a burner, try this:

Use your tea kettle (or other pan) to heat some water until it begins to boil.  Quickly pour the water into a bottle (you could use plastic since you're nto heating the bottle) - use a funnel - and cap the bottle with a balloon.  Then, proceed as above, cooling the bottle.