Cookie Mining

(Download the MS Word version of this document.)

Objective

Students will demonstrate economics skills in a simulated mining activity.

Concept

Coal mining is a capital-intensive industry.

Skill Reinforcement

• Critical thinking
• Math-number manipulation
• Cooperative learning
• Evaluation of multiple factors
• Negotiation and compromise

Grade Level

Grades 3–12

Time Needed

One or two class periods

Materials

• play money
• worksheet
• grid paper
• pencils
• three different types of chocolate chip cookies
• flat toothpicks
• round toothpicks
• paper clips

Procedure

1. Each student starts with $19 of play money.
2. Each student receives a Cookie Mining worksheet and a sheet of grid paper.
3. Each student must buy their own "mining property," which is a cookie. Only one "mining property" per player. Cookies are for sale:
   • Mother's Chocolate Chip - $3
   • Chips Ahoy - $5
   • Chips Deluxe - $7
4. After the cookie is purchased, the student places the cookie on the grid paper and, using a pencil, traces the outline of the cookie. The student must then count each square that falls inside the circle. Count partial squares as a full square.
5. Each student must buy their own "mining equipment." More than one piece of equipment may be purchased. Equipment may not be shared between students. Mining equipment for sale is:
   • Flat toothpick - $2
   • Round toothpick - $4
   • Paper clips - $6
6. Mining costs are $1 per minute.
7. The sale of one chocolate chip mined from a cookie results in a $2 profit. (Broken chocolate chips can be combined to make one whole chip).
8. After the cookie has been "mined," the cookie should be placed back into the circled area on the grid paper (reclamation). This can only be accomplished using the mining tools - no fingers or hands allowed. Reclamation costs are $1 for each square covered outside original outline.

Rules

1. No student may use their fingers to hold the cookie. The only things that can touch the cookie are the mining tools and the paper on which the cookie is sitting.
2. Students should be allowed a maximum of five minutes to mine their cookie. Students who finish mining before the five minutes are used up should only credit the actual time spent mining.
3. A student can purchase as many mining tools as desired and the tools can be of different types.
4. If the mining tools break, they are no longer usable and a new tool must be purchased.
5. The students who make money by the end of the game win (because they realized a mining profit).
6. All students win at the end of the game because they get to eat the remains of their cookie!

Review

The game provided each student an opportunity to make the most profit that he/she could make with the resources provided. Students were forced to make decisions to determine which properties to buy and which piece or pieces of mining equipment should be purchased. Each student should have learned a simplified flow of an operating mine. Also, each student should have learned something about the difficulty of reclamation, especially in returning the cookie back to the exact size that it was before "mining" began.

Activity developed by the Women In Mining Education Foundation.

Cookie Mining Worksheet

Name: ____________________________________

Date:________________________

Mining start-up funds = $19

A. Land acquisition costs = price of cookie
(Mother's - $3; Chips Ahoy - $5; Chips Deluxe - $7)

Name of cookie: ________________________ $ ________________

Size of mine = size of cookie

Squares covered pre-mining (used for reclamation) _________________

B. Equipment costs

Flat toothpick __________ x $2 = __
Round toothpick __________ x $4 = __
Paper clip __________ x $6 = __

Total equipment costs $ ________________

C. Mining/excavation costs = chip removal

Number of minutes __________ x $1 __

Total excavation costs $ ________________

D. Mining valuation

Number of chips mined __________ x $2

Gross profit $ ________________

E. Reclamation

Squares covered outside original outline _________ x $1

Total reclamation costs $ ________________

F. Profit/loss

Start-up funds _________________
less total mining costs (A, B, & C) _________________
less total reclamation costs (E) _________________
plus gross profit (D) _________________
Total profit/loss _________________