Here was a great chocolate chip cookie activity done by our students in the school Science Lab.
Purpose: To learn about the process of mining and how it affects the earth, and how real mining companies face constraints on their mining processes which. Laws exist to protect the environment, and mining companies must conform to these laws or risk losing siginigicant profit. The students were instructed how to "mine" for the minerals (chocolate chips) so that the environment (the rest of the cookie) was impacted as little as possible.
How we implemented this lesson: Our science lab was equiped with cookies, toothpicks and a digital camera to record the "mining efforts. Students learned about the problems associated with mining, and how the earth can be harmed. As the lesson shows, students were "fined" for poor mining habits, and "rewarded" with profit when they were successful at good mining habits.
Here is the complete lesson activity, From the June/July 1998 Intermediate edition of The Mailbox® and reprinted by permission of The Education Center, Inc. It is to be given out to the student "mining teams" to use during their lab activity. Our students had to keep their data complete all through out the process, and it was turned in for a grade at the end of lab.
"Mining for MMM-Goood Minerals
Some rocks contain large amounts of minerals. These rocks are called mineral deposits. A mineral deposit that can be mined for profit is called an are. Silver, gold, and asbestos are examples of ores. However, there can be problems with the mining of ores. A mine may cover a very large area and may reach deep into the earth's surface. This digging up of very large areas of land can cause environmental problmes.
Complete the following activity to help you understand the difficulty in reaching ores. You will also discover how land is lost during mining.
Materials needed for each student: 1 chocolate-chip cookie, toothpick, plastic drinking cup, paper towel, scale, clock. [NOTE: At Pattie, we used a brand of hard, crunchy cookies.]
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