Part of Lesson Plan: Ingredients in Concrete

Activity Overview / Details

As the students enter the classroom and sit down, begin taking roll.  Ask the students to brainstorm on this question "What are you standing on right now ,concrete or cement? What's the difference?"  Have the students pair up and discuss it. Have (hidden) in front of the classroom- 3 separate clear containers or jars (one large, medium and small).  Prior to the lesson, fill the large container with gravel or rock, sand in the medium sized container and Portland Cement in the smaller container. In addition to the dry ingredients,  have a large jar or container filled with water. Have students pour the contents of the gravel and the sand into a tray so that they can see that alone, those components cannot form a hard surface to walk on! They can also feel the texture of the Portland Cement. Then move into the lesson having and using the containers as visual aids and for further discussion.