CHOCOLATE IS MY MUSE: SUGARCOATING GEOSCIENCE CONCEPTS IN INTRODUCTORY AND UPPER-LEVEL CLASSES

Many geological processes are abstract and impossible to see real-time in the classroom. Although interactive computer simulations can display increasingly complex geologic scenarios, students are more actively engaged when they can manipulate actual objects over virtual ones. I have successfully used readily available, inexpensive food to help to explain: continental rifting; fractional crystallization in magma chambers; the behaviors of Bingham and Newtonian fluids; the morphology of extraterrestrial wrinkle ridges; partial melting; temperature-dependent viscosity; the construction of shield volcanoes vs. stratovolcanoes; and other processes.

I will present food-related activities that can be used as demos for large (>100 students) classes, and as in-class activities for smaller classes. Here, I remind the reader of foods whose properties can be easily altered as analogs to lavas and magmas. Pudding in cups is cheap and lasts forever; by mixing in graham cracker crumbs (to mimic a higher crystal content, for example) the pudding viscosity increases. The polymerization of silicon-oxygen tetrahedra, and the effect on magma viscosity, can be demonstrated by comparing tomato sauce mixed with a given mass of spaghetti noodles (polymerized tetrahedra) or the same mass or orzo pasta (single tetrahedra). Viscosity can be estimated by putting the mixture on an increasingly tilted plate, and measuring the angle at which the mixture begins to flow. Peanut butter chips have a different melting temperature than do semi-sweet chocolate chips; both, when melted, have a temperature-dependent viscosity (as do peanut butter and honey). These materials can be used to demonstrate partial melting and magma mixing or mingling. The majority of activities I will present have the advantage of being tasty and edible—minimizing cleanup!