======Cookie Mining======


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**Materials: **{{$demo.materials_description}}\\
**Difficulty: **{{$demo.difficulty_description}}\\
**Safety: **{{$demo.safety_description}}\\
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**Categories:** {{$demo.categories}}
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**Alternative titles:** Chocolate Chip Mining
</WRAP>

====Summary====                   
{{$demo.summary}}



====Procedure====  
  -Distribute one cookie, a plate, and a Cookie Mining Worksheet to each student.
  -Ask students to sketch their cookie in two ways:  
    *A drawing of the cookie itself.  
    *A drawing of a fictional habitat above it, imagining the cookie as underground bedrock.
  -Explain that the chocolate chips represent coal deposits, and toothpicks are mining tools.
  -Give students about 5 minutes to carefully remove as many chocolate chips as possible with toothpicks.
  -After mining, students sketch the cookie again, showing its new state and imagining how the “habitat” has been damaged.
  -Lead a wrap-up discussion comparing before and after conditions, linking mining impacts to real ecosystems.
  -Optionally, let students eat their cookies during discussion.




====Links==== 
Cookie Mining - Balarat Outdoor Education: 
{{youtube>IcEQU5sKpLU?}}\\

Cookie Mining - Lignite Energy Council: 
{{youtube>JI7nCLZxjps?}}\\

📄 Fossil Fuels: Chocolate Chip Mining - California Academy of Sciences: [[https://www.calacademy.org/educators/lesson-plans/fossil-fuels-chocolate-chip-mining]]\\


====Variations====
  *Have students compare cookies with different chip densities to simulate resource-rich vs. resource-poor areas.  
  *Introduce costs for tools and fines for habitat damage to simulate economic and environmental trade-offs.  
  *Extend into a sustainability lesson by comparing mined resources with renewable energy options.  




====Safety Precautions====
  *Ensure students wash hands before starting if they plan to eat cookies afterward.  
  *Toothpicks should be used carefully to avoid injury.  
  *Allergies to cookie ingredients should be checked beforehand.




====Questions to Consider====
  *How did mining affect the cookie’s “habitat”? (It became damaged, fragmented, or destroyed.)  
  *Do the chocolate chips return after being removed? (No, like coal, they are non-renewable.)  
  *What impact might strip mining have on real ecosystems? (Loss of habitats, erosion, water contamination.)  
  *What benefits do fossil fuels provide? (Jobs, income, and energy.)  
  *What problems might arise if coal mining stopped, and how could we solve them? (Loss of energy and jobs, but renewable resources and new industries can help reduce dependence.)