Creating glue fossils is a fun hands-on science activity.
Geology can be fun and memorable when students create models of geological activities. Educational research has demonstrated that hands-on science activities have many benefits for students including greater motivation, developing an understanding of the scientific process and increased learning and achievement in science, according to North Central Educational Laboratories.
Make an Edible Earth
Primary students will love creating an edible model of the layers of the earth. The ingredients for this activity are: four flavors of ice cream (green, yellow, chocolate, vanilla), graham crackers, nuts, red and green food coloring and a large mixing bowl. Make layers one at a time and freeze them in the mixing bowl. To start, make the crust with green ice cream and crushed graham crackers. Once the crust is frozen, make the mantle with chocolate ice cream and nuts to simulate rocks. Freeze. Use yellow ice cream for the outer core. Freeze this on top of the mantle. The inner core is vanilla ice cream turned gray by adding red and green food coloring. Once this is frozen, take the half-earth out of the mixing bowl and invert it so that the crust is on top. Discuss the layers with your students. Your explanations will vary in complexity based on their age. Once you're finished discussing the earth, eat it.
Create Fossil Molds
Creating fossil molds is suitable for students from kindergarten through grade five. Make molds from clay and the casts with glue. Materials for this activity are: white glue, coins, blades of grass, leaves, shells or other objects suitable for making impressions. This will take one class period. Explain how fossils are made of rock and minerals---not the actual parts of the organism, but rather the impressions made in the earth. (The older the student, the more complex the explanation can be.) In groups, have students take an object and press it into the clay to make an impression. The clay acts as the substitute for sediment. Pull the object out of the clay. Bacteria eat objects in the real world, and you fill the role of the bacteria by pulling the object out of the sediment (clay). Fill the mold with white glue. In the creation of real fossils, the space is filled with minerals that make the fossil. The glue substitutes for the minerals. Peel off the glue shape once it dries. This is the cast---fossils are often preserved as casts. Ask students if hard or soft objects make better casts, leading into a discussion of why hard objects make better fossils. Follow this activity by viewing fossils on the Internet.
Create a Volcano
There's an easy and safe way to create a volcano as a class activity. Materials are: newspaper, smocks, modeling clay or salt dough, small plastic soda bottles, baking pans, red food coloring, liquid detergent, 25 milliliters of baking soda, a funnel and vinegar. Discuss the basics of volcanoes as an introduction. Divide students into groups, in which they mold the clay or dough to make a mountain around the bottles that are placed in the baking pan. Do not cover the top of the bottle or let any of the "mountain" inside the bottle. Fill the bottle to the top with warm water and red food coloring. Add six drops of liquid detergent to the bottle. Use the funnel to add baking soda, and then slowly add vinegar. The "lava" should begin to flow over the top of the volcano. Have students explain how the process of real volcanic eruptions is similar to their model. When the students finish this activity, they will see that a volcano is a cooling vent for the inner core of the earth.
Tags: food coloring, this activity, mixing bowl, baking soda, graham crackers, green food, green food coloring
