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We did a fun experiment this week to learn about how fossils are formed. It is also a great experiment to teach about sedimentary rocks. This fossil experiment uses supplies that might surprise you! Â We used great and gummy candies. Yup! Another candy experiment. Â I guess we like to include candy in our learning around here. So, if you have a dinosaur or a geology unit coming up, this would be a perfect addition!
How to Do the Gummy Fossil Experiment:
You will need just a few simple supplies: Bread (a few different kids is best to show sedimentary layers), Gummy candies (we used a mix of worms and bears) and some heavy books.
To make it you layer the bread and gummy candies. We did a few layers of each. I don’t think the numbers really matter so much. Â We just varied three types of bread to demonstrate how sedimentary rocks are different layers of colors and materials. On ours, we used some white bread, wheat bread and cinnamon swirl bread.
Next, you just wrap the bread in plastic wrap or paper towels.
Then pile some heavy books on top! (We definitely have a few of those lying around!) 😉
Let the books weigh it down for a few hours. We left it for about 8 hours, until the bread was really smashed.
Peel the layers apart carefully. They stick together pretty well, so you have to go slowly.
Books to Go with the Fossil Experiment:
The Berenstain Bears Dinosaur Dig by Jan Berenstain
- Dinosaur Number Maze – Inspiration Laboratories
- Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs Jacks Game- Sugar Aunts
- Clothespin Dinosaur Counting Tray-School Time Snippets
- Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs Play Dough Mats– JDaniel4’s MomÂ
- How to Make Chocolate Dinosaurs – Mama Smiles
- Collaborative Cardboard Dinosaur Art– Toddler Approved
- Dinosaur Pre-Writing Tracing Pages – Sea of Knowledge
- Roll A Dinosaur Movement Game – To be a Kid Again
- Dinosaur Shape Matching Game – Powerful Mothering
- Build A Shape Dinosaur – Adventures of Adam
- Dinosaur Eggs Preschool Math Printables-Chickadee Lit
- Preschool Dinosaur Name Activity – Preschool Powol Packets
Cerys says
What a fun way to explore this – I’m going to give it a go with my kids as they are fascinated by fossils.
Karyn Tripp says
Great!! I hope you enjoy it! 🙂
Georgeanna Levy says
This is so cool
Roxann says
This is a great idea! I’m going to do this with my primary grades when school starts, thank you for sharing. One suggestion- for those that are not teachers, they should understand this is an investigation and a model, NOT an experiment. I am a K-5 STEM lab teacher and coach with 24 years in elementary classrooms, and I’ve seen how hard it is for students (and parents) to clarify this misconception.
Ms. Rey says
Fun and informative