Hands-on Earth Science Activities By: Brooke Britt – Hobbton High School
• “Tragedy of the Commons” Goldfish Activity o o
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Prep materials: Large box of Goldfish, paper plates, napkins, plastic straws Description: Place students into groups (4-5) & place an equal # of goldfish on a paper plate for each group. Each group member will need a straw and a napkin. Instruct the group that this is a race. Each group is fishing to feed their village. To do this, they will suck on the straw to pick up the goldfish and place it on their napkin. Be enthusiastic & say go! After 30 seconds, call time. More than likely, all groups will have fished all the goldfish from the plate. The students will be excited because they feel like they’ve won. Next, instruct students to begin fishing when you say, “go.” Students will ask for more fish. If a group had 2 fish left, then they can reproduce and you may add 2 more fish. However, students typically don’t’ consider this and have essentially overfished. Explain this to students. If you want, you can restart and provide each group with 10 fish and explain that they need to try to practice sustainable fishing. When the activity is over, read “Tragedy of the Commons” by Garrett Hardin & discuss how it relates to the activity. Links: http://www.clake.org/view/585.pdf http://www.kenpitts.net/apes/tragedy_of_the_commons.pdf
• Cupcake Core Drilling o o
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Prep materials: Colored cupcakes, plastic straws, lab sheet, colored pencils Description: In this activity, students will learn about core sampling and how to uncover geologic history. Using a straw, students will “drill” & collect samples through different parts of the specifically layered cupcake. Students will reconstruct a history of the deposition using their samples. The teacher will need to bake the cupcakes beforehand. See lab sheet for more information. Link: https://media.up.edu/Physics/TOLE/CascadiaEarthquake&Tsunamis/LessonPlans/CupCakeGeology_ LessonPlan_TOTLE.pdf
• Chocolate Chip Cookie Mining & Land Reclamation o o
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Prep materials: Chocolate chip cookies, toothpicks, paper plates Description: Students will learn how to “mine” for chocolate chips and how difficult land reclamation can actually be. The purpose of this activity is to give the player an introduction to the economics of mining. Each player buys "property," purchases the "mining equipment," pays for the "mining operation," and finally pays for the "reclamation." In return, the player receives money for the "ore mined." The object of the game is to develop the mine, safeguard the environment, and make as much money as possible. Links: http://www.earthsciweek.org/classroom-activities/cookie-mining https://www.populationeducation.org/sites/default/files/mining_for_chocolate.pdf
• Oil Drilling & Mapping o o
Prep materials: Water balloons, kabob sticks, boxes (paper boxes work well) Description: Students are placed in groups of 3-4 and given a box, water balloon, dirt, etc. Students will learn more about drilling and mapping oil reserves in this activity. Basically, students fill a water balloon and place it in a box with different types of soil and rock. These students map where they place the “oil reserve.” Students switch boxes with another group and use the kabob skewers to find the oil reserve. Students must keep the budget in mind when drilling as to not exceed it. See the document for more details. 1
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Link: http://ogoapes.weebly.com/uploads/3/2/3/9/3239894/apes-_drilling_for_oil.pdf
• Plastiki Project o o
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Prep materials: Recycled plastic materials like plastic bottles, plastic bags, plastic plates, etc.; hot glue guns Description: Before this activity, discuss the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, water pollution, and the Plastiki. The Plastiki is a 60-foot catamaran made out of 12,500 reclaimed plastic bottles that drew attention to the rethinking of our human footprint on the world. In this activity, we discuss water pollution, the Plastiki, and students work in pairs or groups to build their own Plastiki and raise awareness of pollution through social media or other means of advertisement. Links: http://theplastiki.com/ http://ocean.nationalgeographic.com/ocean/explore/plastiki/
• Filtration/Permeability Soil Lab o o
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Prep materials: Plastic funnel, water, beaker, graduated cylinder, coffee filters, gravel, clay, potting soil, plastic wrap Description: In this activity, students will learn about soil filtration and permeability using the supplies listed above. Place students in groups of 3-4 and instruct students to place a coffee filter in the funnel. Place the first soil type in the filter then pour “x” amount of water through the funnel while timing it. Students will observe and measure how long it takes the water to completely funnel through the soil. Students will do this for all the soil types to compare the readiness of water flow through each type. More details regarding the lab can be found on the handout. Link: http://www.caryinstitute.org/sites/default/files/public/downloads/lesson plans/permeability_of_soils_worksheet.pdf
• Geologic Timeline Project o o
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Prep materials: computer paper/construction paper, Internet access, ruler/meter stick, markers, etc. Description: Students will work in groups of 3-4 to create an accurate “toscale” geologic time line that illustrates the organisms that flourished during various stages of Earth’s history. See handout for more info. Link to similar project that instruct students to create a commercial involving their geologic era (a little more creative): http://www.saintleoky.com/images/files/6th%20science/Geologic%20Time%20Project.pdf
• Graham Cracker Plate Tectonics o o
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Prep materials: graham crackers, rice krispy treat, cup of water, wax paper, frosting (or pudding) & plastic knife Description: Students will gain knowledge of plate tectonics and their boundaries using the supplies listed above. Students will use the graham crackers and rice krispy treat to imitate divergent, convergent, and transform faults at both continental and oceanic plates. Students may eat the supplies after the lab is complete. The icing represents the asthenosphere and helps students to visualize what happens at specific plate transformations. See handout for more info. & specific lab directions. Links to similar projects: http://www.hilldale.k12.ok.us/vimages/shared/vnews/stories/51cdb994a4edf/Graham%20Cracker%2 0Plate%20Tectonics%20Lab.pdf 2
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http://www.centergrove.k12.in.us/cms/lib4/IN01000850/Centricity/Domain/510/3rd%20nine%20week %20files/Edible%20Earth_Plate%20Tectonics.pdf
• Crayola Rock Cycle o o
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Prep materials: old crayons, aluminum foil, a heat source (hot plate), coin or scissors Description: Students will learn about the rock cycle and the different types of rocks by creating them using crayons to represent rocks. Students use a coin or scissors to cut the crayons into small pieces (weathering the rock); then sprinkle it on a small square of aluminum foil (deposition/erosion); fold the foil over and compact the pieces into a sedimentary “rock.” Next, students place the rock on the heat source for a few seconds, allow it to cool, and open the foil to see the pieces melted together to form a metamorphic rock. When these melty pieces cool, we then have an igneous rock. See the handout for more details. Link:http://www.lewistonpublicschools.org/~nsousa/Mrs._Sousa/Rock_Cycle_and_Geologic_Time_ files/Rock%20Cycle%20Crayon%20lab.pdf Similar Link: http://www.cpet.ufl.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/%E2%80%98The-RockCycle%E2%80%99-Lab-Teach-the-Rock-Cycle-Using-Crayon-Shavings.pdf
• Oreo Moon Phases o o
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Prep materials: Oreos, napkins/plates, plastic fork/knife Description: Students can do this activity as an individual or with a partner. Students will model the phases of the Moon using the Oreos then analyze which positions of the moon create natural phenomena. You may decide to give students a blank template like the one shown below in which they have to separate the Oreo, make the moon phase, and label it OR pre-label the worksheet & the students simply make the moon phase with the separated Oreo. Link: http://www.scienceteacherprogram.org/pdf/TMayOreoMoonPhasesWorksheet2012.pdf Link to handout shown: http://muzionewnan12.wiki.westga.edu/file/view/Phases+of+the+Moon.pdf
• Modeling Changes (Erosion & Deposition) o o
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Prep materials: Skittles, petri dish, dropper, water, ruler Description: Students work independently to observe the weathering of a skittle by using an eye dropper to drop water on the candy from a specific height. Students record their observations in the data table found on the handout section. This is a very simple lab, but it can be modified to include different candies or water of different temperatures to see the affects different variables may have on the rate of weathering. This may also be a good lab to introduce the scientific method and data collection process. See handout for more info.
Need more ideas? Want to collaborate? o My email is bbritt@sampson.k12.nc..us o I also have ALL of my PowerPoints for APES posted on my HHS website., which may be helpful when discussing some of these labs. Simply go to the Hobbton homepage, then departments, scroll to “science” and click Brooke Britt.
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