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Sedimentary Rocks & Fossil Experiment

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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!  We used great and gummy candies. Yup! Another candy experiment.  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!

Gummy Fossil Experiment & Sedimentary Rocks

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.

fossil-experiment-with-bread-and-gummies

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.  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.

bread-gummy-fossils

Then pile some heavy books on top! (We definitely have a few of those lying around!) 😉

sedimentary rocks fossil experiment

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.

fossil-science-experiment

 The bread is left with deep impressions of the gummy animals. This is where you explain how fossils are made from animals who have died and then the rocks and sand cover them up over time. It is a perfect demonstration to help kids understand the process!

Books to Go with the Fossil Experiment:

This is part of the Weekly Virtual Book Club for Kids. See even more Dinosaur Activities this week from the other Virtual Book Club Bloggers!

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5 Comments

  1. 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.

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