Cookie Mining

One of the Grade Three social studies units is called Living and Working in Ontario and part of that is learning about natural resources, the industries that are available for jobs, and the impacts various kinds of land use have on the environment.

“B2.5 evaluate evidence and draw conclusions about some of the short- and long-term effects on the environment of different types of land use in municipal regions of Ontario and about key measures to reduce the negative impact of that use” (Social Studies Curriculum 92)

When I was in university, I had a professor who had us do this activity that demonstrated the effects of mining. It’s called the Cookie Mining Activity. Here’s how you do it.

The kids LOVE it. For tools, they used toothpicks and a straightened out paper clip, and they were so careful. At the end, we counted up our chips to see how much “gold” we mined.

The following is a video I found on YouTube of the same activity. Click HERE to be redirected.

I love hands on activities to teach (what I consider to be) a rather dry topic.

And of course, I bought an extra box so we could enjoy a cookie once everything was tidied up!