Students learned to apply their knowledge of relative data and other geological concepts using a hands-on cupcake activity. Students also completed a graphic organizer on constructing explanation to help them focus on what they see in the data, and the connections they need to make. Students then got to choose a food item of their choice and key geological terms and concepts and explain what they knew through food. Students also shared their food and ideas with their peers and parents.
"It was fun and educational. It was a different way to learn geography than normal…And it was kind of a fun to be able to eat in the end." - Emily
"Instead of using just diagrams, it was a real life thing to represents rocks and strata." - Angela
"We didn't have a clear question, but we gave them clear procedures and organizers to get them to think…What is difficult about this topic is you can't have students touch it. It's not in our neighborhood or nearby. A lot of this is taught via diagrams, but it's not often hands on." - Ruby Hundley
"If I were to rewrite the question, our idea would be we want you to teach these concepts to other people...Last year when we started off doing this, we had done a traditional test, as well as an extension with snickers bar activity….It would be interesting to frontload through a project and start with making it tangible. It would be the potluck and cookbook, and you goal is to make it accessible and tangible to others." - Nola Heckman