Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Chocolate Chip Cookie Mining

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
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...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Chocolate Chip Cookie Mining

For Teachers 2nd - 5th
Students explore nonrenewable energy resources. In this coal lesson, 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.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Cookie Mining

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Young scholars simulate coal mining with chocolate chip cookies and toothpicks. They investigate the costs associated with mining coal.
Activity
Museum of Science

Cookie Mining

For Teachers K - 6th
Knock a chip off the cookie. Learners purchase a property to mine and mining tools. Pupils use their tools to mine chocolate chips out of a cookie for 5 minutes and return cookie fragments to its original site. After the time is over,...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Chocolate Chip Cookie Mining

For Teachers 6th - 8th
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.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Cookie Mining

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Students investigate mining and economics. In this mining lesson, students play a game in which they purchase property, mine the property, and pay for reclamation.  Students earn money for each ore mined. 
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Mining an Ore

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students 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)...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Mining and Land Reclamation - A Classroom Simulation

For Teachers 7th - 8th
Students simulate mining mineral resources using cookies. In this earth science lesson, students analyze the cost and profits in mining. They write a lab report about the activity.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Mining Reclamation and Cookies

For Teachers 9th
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...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Mining for Mmm-minerals

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students explore minerals and examine environmental impact of mining through simulation.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Fossil Fuels: Facing the Issues

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Students explore energy by researching fuel usage on Earth. In this fossil fuel lesson, students define fossil fuels, the energy created by burning them, and the impact on the environment when using them. Students conduct pollution...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Fossil Fuels

For Teachers 5th
Fifth graders explore the use of fossil fuels and relate it to effects on the environment.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

From Where Does Coal Come?

For Teachers 2nd - 8th
Students explain the sources of coal.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Minerals of the Earth

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students learn and practice identifying Earth's minerals and their properties. Working in small groups, they evaluate minerals. This is a well-described lesson, which students enjoy.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Coal: More Than Meets the Eye!

For Teachers 2nd - 4th
Students participate in a hands-on simulation to help them explain that coal resources are deposited unevenly between the earth's surface and under the ground.
Activity
Museum of Science

Museum of Science and Industry: Online Science: Activities: Cookie Mining

For Students 3rd - 8th
An activity where students simulate the process of extracting coal from the ground using chocolate chip cookies. They then calculate the costs involved to determine whether coal mining is profitable.
Interactive
American Geosciences Institute

American Geosciences Institute: Earth Science Week: Cookie Mining

For Students 9th - 10th
In this mining simulation, students 'purchase' chocolate chip cookies which represent their 'mining property.' They must also buy mining equipment (i.e., toothpicks and paper clips). They 'mine' chocolate chips from their cookies while...