100 Days of Science #72-- Starburst Rock Cycle

My boys love any edible science experiments and I just knew they were going to have a ball learning about the rock cycle using Starburst candies.

We had never really talked about the rock cycle before but we just dove right in.  I poured out the bag of candies and told them to pick at least three in three different colors (most of them chose to use 4 candies but I didn't mind).

We unwrapped them and set to work making sedimentary rocks by stacking our Starburst candies together and pressing them together lightly with our hands.

Next we wrapped our candies up in some parchment paper and popped them in our toaster oven at 200 degrees for 5-10 minutes.  We checked them frequently to see when they had softened.

Once they were soft enough that our finger prints made an indent we unwrapped them and played with them a bit; mixing the colors together.

The added heat made them very susceptible to pressure and we made some very colorful rock formations.

Mixing up our metamorphic rocks.

Of course they all thought the best part was getting to eat the "rocks" when they were done.

There are lots of great rock cycle videos too and we watched one from the Scholastic sight.  It was such a quick and fun science activity.

Others in this series:

1.  Bernoulli's Principle

2.  Field Trip to the Ecotarium 

3.  Learning About Air Molecules

4.  Kitchen Science; Baking cupcakes

5.  Corn Maze Field Trip 

6.  Birds of Florida 

7.  Static foil drum

8.  Un-Make it Monday; Seeing Inside our DVD/VCR player

9. Wind Tunnel Experiment 

10. Biomes Marine Biology Center Field Trip  

11. Disappearing Coin Trick and the Science Behind it. 

12.  Snuff Out a Candle with Baking Soda and Vinegar

13.  Making Plastic from Milk

14.  Pencil in the Rice Friction Experiment

15 & 16.  Two Experiments using SNOW

17.  Making an Iceberg 

18.  Making an Egg Float

19.  Looking at Microscopic Organisms 

20.  Eco Plant pals

21&22.  Two Experiments with Cotton Candy

23. Springfield Science Museum Trip

24.  Teaching Children the Signs of Spring

25.  Color Changing Slime

26.  Growing Tickle Me Plants

27.  Learning About Soil Sampling

28.  Making Super Bouncy Balls 

29. Exploring the New England Shoreline

30.  Color Changing Flower Experiment 

31.  Roger Williams Zoo Trip

32.  Edible Silly Putty 

33.  Raising Tadpoles

34. More Microscope Fun

35. Making Homemade Ice Cream

36.  Observing Plants Breathe 

37.  Trip to Save the Bay Exploration Center and Aquarium

38. Making Fresh Peach Preserves 

39.  Making Solar S'mores

40.  Growing a Crystal Garden

41 & 42.  Jolly Rancher Candy Apples and Lollipops

43.  Volcanic Lemons 

44.  Oozing Pumpkins 

45.  Growing a Germ Farm

46.  Looking at the Germ Farm Under a Microscope

47 & 48.  Building Model Molecules Two Ways 

49.  Kitchen Chemistry Experiments 

50.  Fall Leaf Chromatography 

51.  Color Changing Experiments with Iodine

52.  Learning About Birds in Winter

53. Iodine and Starch Experiment
54. Flouride and Calcium Experiment
55. Botanical Gardens in Winter
56.  Making Cell Models
57. Which Has More Water; Ice or Snow?
58. Exploding Snow and Water Baggies
59.  Exploring Minerals
60. Visiting the Hartford Science Museum
61-63. 3 STEM Bridge Challenges
64. Making Models of the Earth
65. Plate Techtonics with Graham Crackers
66.  Homemade Lava Lamp
67.  Science Movies We're Watching
68. Index Card Towers
69.  Botany at the Botanical Gardens
70. Best Board Games for Science 
71. Homemade Frozen Yogurt Pops