To understand the impact coal mining has on the environment, pupils will extract chocolate chips from a cookie. Imagine the cookie is the environment and the chips are the coal. Instruct them to mine as many chips as they can, then have...

Students explore natural resources by conducting a geology experiment in class. In this mineral mining lesson, students discuss the types of geological material that can be found when mining and the uses for these resources such as coal....

Study the chemistry of mining! Through nine lessons in the unit, learners explore different concepts related to mining. Their study ranges from rock and mineral analysis to the environmental impact of dynamite and the chemical reaction...

Eighth graders put their knowledge of rocks and minerals into perspective by seeing how minerals can be mined and the difficulties and costs of mining. They explore the environmental impacts of mining.

Students observe the effects of mining on a mountain.  In this environmental awareness lesson, students will be challenged to extract items from a model of a mountain without disturbing the vegetation on the mountain. Students will...

Young scholars use cabbage, backing soda, cobblestones, and more to test the acid in the water. For this acid mine damage lesson plan, students complete 13 experiments to test and treat acid.

Students explore the meaning of mining. In this Science/Math lesson, students engage in a small group activity to sort and calculate the value of seeds/beads.  Additionally, they are made aware of environmental damages which will...

Student pretends to be a research scientist for a mining company. They work in a laboratory that investigates methods of getting useful minerals from rocks. They complete experiment using chocolate chip cookies.

Young scholars explore energy by categorizing rocks. In this British Columbia geology instructional activity, students define many different vocabulary terms associated with mining such as sedimentary, igneous, and metamorphic. Young...

Students explore nonrenewable energy resources. In this coal activity, students investigate how coal is formed and how it is used as a source of energy. Students mine for "coal" using toothpicks and chocolate chip cookies.

Student develop a vocabulary of "mining words" and study about exploring and mining for minerals. They break into groups and are assigned an area at the "mine" to do their "exploration" for the valuable "coal". The coal is represented...

Students investigate gold. For this gold panning lesson, students demonstrate the process of mining through an experiment using two boxes of sand. Students design a safe way to mine gold.

Students become familiar with coal as an energy source and how it is mined.  In this coal lesson, students research the effects of coal mining on the environment. Students discuss the various problems associated with coal mining....

Young scholars answer questions on a worksheet about mineral processing, iron fillings, and how to safely manage the left over material after separated. This is really not a lesson plan, just a worksheet that is filled out following the...

Students explore the life and times of a coal miner in Illinois through the analysis of primary source documents and images.

Students plot where minerals come from and have an awareness of how mineral use makes the world interdependent. They examine how to identify some sort of mineral products they use each day.

Students read a book called It's Mine! In this lesson plan about three frogs and sharing, students explore how what they do affects everything around them. Through a series of seven different activities, students interpret the frogs and...

Students simulate mining mineral resources using cookies. In this earth science instructional activity, students analyze the cost and profits in mining. They write a lab report about the activity.

Students simulate operating a coal mine and calculating the expense of mining operations by choosing a chocolate chip cookie, buying tools to mine the chocolate chips and using paper money to pay for the expense of mining.

What is water worth to you? The answer probably depends on many different variables. Learners explore the value of water in space and what it takes to transport the resource to locations in a galaxy far far away. They then consider...

Learners investigate how to determine the percent composition of a mineral in an ore. In this mining an ore lesson plan, students use chocolate chips cookies to represent an ore and they remove precious minerals (the chocolate chips)...

Your class will love this geology-inspired set of activities that demonstrate the processes through which we are able to use mineral resources. They describe the major steps that a company must follow from initial discovery of a mineral...

Ninth graders are introduced to the process of mining. In groups, they use the internet to research the effect of mining on the environment. They work together to create their own make believe mining company and discover the process of...

Students discover that mining for nonrenewable natural resources has a dramatic effect on our environment. They gain an understanding of the processes involved in harvesting a natural resource and the impact it has on the earth.