Moon Phases That You Can Eat!

The Internet is a great resource for teachers.  I often find myself amazed by the creative ideas I find.  What did teachers do before the Internet?  Between Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, and Blogs, we are in a great world to collaborate.

Here is a Science idea that Mrs. E and I found a few years ago.  In third grade, we are required to teach the Phases of the Moon.  After spending a week teaching all of the content, I enriched the lesson with a hands-on activity.  Students used Oreo Cookies to create the phases.  The original idea and directions can be found HERE. The picture below shows one of the my students work.

You never know how an activity is going to go until you try it out with students.  Here are some tips:

• Remind your students the cookies are not for eating yet, BEFORE you hand the cookies out.
• If you are only teaching 4 phases, you will need 2 cookies per student.
• Have extras on hand, because some of the cookies will break when students twist to separate.
• When complete, wrap students projects in plastic wrap or a large ziploc baggie to take home.
• A popsicle stick works well for scraping and moving the cream inside the cookie.
• If you have students who are diabetic, there are sugar free chocolate cream cookies available at most grocery stores.
• You will have at least one student who can't help himself and have to lick the crumbs of their fingers.  Keep hand sanitizer near by.