Graham Cracker Tectonic Plates

I begin my Earth unit with the study of tectonic plates. We learn about the processes and affects of plate movement at the boundaries. A fun, and delicious, lab that we do is the graham cracker and icing lab. The graham crackers represent the earth's crust and the icing represents the magma below.

Students are given a lab sheet that requires them to name the plate boundary, draw their observations, tell how they manipulated he graham crackers, and write the geologic process the movement caused.

The students explore the three types of plate boundaries with this lab, and they have fun too! I allow them to snack on the extra graham crackers and icing after they finish their lab sheet. We had another exciting lab this week!

Outrageous Ooze Lab

At the beginning of my matter unit in science, I start with a fun and messy experiment that explores a mixture of cornstarch, water, and food coloring. We watch the Ninja Myths episode of MythBusters where they experiment with different ways to walk on water. At the end of the episode, they are able to actually walk across a cornstarch and water mixture! However, they discover that they can actually sink in the mixture as well. It is a fun experiment for my students to be introduced to the states of matter. Below are a couple of pictures I took, on lab day, of my own boys experimenting with the mixture after school.

This mixture is neither solid nor liquid, but it can have properties of both, depending on how you manipulate it. My students are given lab procedures that prompt them to squeeze the mixture, roll it into a ball, and open their hand to let it run down their fingers. 

My students as well as my boys had a blast with this lab!

Dry Ice Experiments

A couple of years ago, I had an amazing, inspirational student who LOVED science and was excited to share her ideas and experiments with the class. I attend church with this student and her grandmother was actually my 8th grade science teacher! I agreed to let her be "teacher for the day". She brought in dry ice to conduct experiments for the class. This was probably the most fun and personally rewarding science day I've EVER had. 

Experiment #1: Dry Ice and Soapy Water

The students were so engaged and entertained and they learned a lot about mixtures and sublimation, which went along with our matter unit!

Experiment #2: Dry Ice in a Soap Bubble (It didn't pop!)

There were many more exciting experiments conducted that day, but these were the only pictures I had to share.