In our current unit of inquiry, entitled Sharing the Planet, we are learning about natural resources as well as how they are used and how to do so responsibly. To kick off our unit, we practiced mining. The students were divided into pairs and told to come up with a name for their mining company. Then, using a certain ammount of capital, they were allowed to start up their company. They had to decide how many tools (toothpics and paper clips) they would need and what kind of land (cookie) they were going to invest in. The students were allowed a maximum of two tools (fingers were not allowed) and one piece of land each.
While preforming their mining work, the use of fingers was not allowed, which prompted some students to purchase extra tools, despite the added expense.
During this whole demonstration, I was playing governor. That meant that as I walked around, I got to assign fines to companies that were polluting (by leaving crumbs outside of their work area or on the ground) and tell them to keep digging.
In the end, we had to assess their coal and pay them for their findings based on the size. Some companies were pretty profitable! I was also amazed to see their multiplication skills as they figured out their profits by multiplying the price of each size of coal by the ammount of each that they had. My kids are so smart :)
While preforming their mining work, the use of fingers was not allowed, which prompted some students to purchase extra tools, despite the added expense.
In the end, we had to assess their coal and pay them for their findings based on the size. Some companies were pretty profitable! I was also amazed to see their multiplication skills as they figured out their profits by multiplying the price of each size of coal by the ammount of each that they had. My kids are so smart :)
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