Hillary Lambert
ES Lab Demo
Fall 2013
Earth Layer Cupcakes
For my lab demonstration, I will be creating cupcakes that model the layers of the earth. From
the outside the cupcakes will look like normal cupcakes, but as a student takes a bite they will notice the
different “layers” inside the cupcake. This will give the students visual representation of what the earth’s
layers look like as they study them. It will also help them remember the order in which they fall.
Materials:
•Cupcake mix
•Plastic knife
•Drawing paper
•Frosting
•Food coloring
•Foil baking cups
•Toothpicks
•Plastic transparent straws
Directions:
Start by preparing cupcakes as you normally would by following the package directions,
but incorporate three different colors for the batter. Layer the batter into the foil cupcake tins.
The use of foil tins and frosting help ensure that the students can’t see the interior before they
get to it, just as Geologist don’t get to see the Earth’s layers before they get to them. (Be sure to
tell the student’s that the layer of frosting represents soil.)
Give each student a cupcake, straw, and a piece of paper. Guide the students into
folding the paper into four cross-sections. In the first section, have them draw what they believe
the interior of the cupcake (Earth) will look like. Then, ask them how they would go about
finding out if that’s what the cupcake looked like without peeling off the foil or cutting the
cupcake.
A student might suggest using the straw to find out what the layers look like. Show them
how to “drill” the straw into the cupcake to retrieve a sample. Use the straw as a drill by rotating
it further into the sample. Repeat this process three times.
Students should draw a new picture on one of the sections of their paper based on their
observations from the three samples. Each sample gets its own new drawing in a separate crosssection on the paper.
The final step in this experiment is to cut the cupcakes in half with the plastic knife and
compare what’s inside with the drawings done by the students.
This demonstration should be completed all while relating what’s being conducted to what Geologist do
in real life. No one can eat any of their cupcake until the demonstration is complete!