How do we get all of those different products out of a black, flaky lump of coal? The answer is simple, the process a tad more complex: you heat it to separate its different compounds. This process is called distilling, or cracking. In this lab we heat a chunk of coal and see and smell the by-p..

Price: $2.50

An overview of how minerals are identified and classified by geologists. Every mineral has a unique chemical composition and crystal structure. Therefore, every mineral has its own set of unique properties. This lab features six of the most common tests used to identify minerals: color, s..

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Permineralization happens when pore spaces in a fossil are filled with minerals, usually silica, and harden in place. Most petrified wood and many dinosaur bones are preserved in this way. In this lab we are going to take a piece of sponge with lots of holes, sort of like a dinosaur bone,..

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This is an opportunity to introduce your students to a variety of marine fossils, from very common animals like sharks and sea urchins to more obscure crinoid and ammonites. Using a photo key, the students will sort through a collection of fossils and match and identify the different spec..

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An introduction to the different kinds of fossils in the form of dinosaur tracks. The kids will look at maps of trackways that were created by dinosaurs wandering around Utah millions of years ago in an area near St. George, now known as Johnson Farm. They will then make models of sea urc..

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An introduction to the economics of mining. The kids will select and purchase a mine (chocolate chip cookie), buy tools (toothpicks and paper clips), excavate chocolate chip ore, sell the ore, and reclaim the land. At the end of the game they will determine if they made a profit or loss.<..

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The kids take the locations of 25 major volcanos found around the rim of the Pacific Ocean and map them. This is the same kind of data that Alfred Wegener used to create his theory of continental drift. They will compare their map with a record of all of the earthquakes for the past 50 years. A..

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An introduction to oil shale, which is a fossil-rich, fine-grained, sedimentary limestone rock that contains large amounts of kerogen. Also referred to as liquid hydrocarbons, these rocks can be used as a substitute for conventional crude oil. The kids will also experiment with the idea o..

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Coquina is an organic sedimentary rock, formed when deposits of shells have piled up near the ocean shore and been cemented together by sediment and minerals. In this lab, a variety of pasta shapes are drizzled with a mixture of white glue and water, and then allowed to dry and harden. The resu..

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Intrusive igneous rocks are formed inside the earth, where we cannot see what's going on. In this lab, the kids will use tub tints, water, and oil to simulate plutons of molten magma rising to the surface of the earth. Grades 5-8