Chicken Leg Mummies...an Integrated Social Studies, Science, and Math Project

One of my primary goals as a teacher is to make learning meaningful and to connect subjects being taught in class to the real world.  What better way to do that then a fun hands-on project that connects learning from several different subjects.  In Social Studies, students have been working on an Ancient Egyptian mummification webquest (please see Mrs. Challe's blog for more info). To help students understand the mummification process, they began the process of mummifying a chicken leg in science.

To start the process, each group was given their very own "mummy." In Egypt, the bodies would have been washed with water from the Nile River. Unfortunately, we can't take a field trip across the world so our bodies were washed in the River of Tap that has three easily accessible flowing branches in my classroom. After washing the body and giving it a proper name, students took initial measurements.  They will keep track of their mummy's length, width, height, and weight during this 42 day process.

  

Once measurements were taken and recorded, students sealed their mummies in an air tight container filled with Natron (baking soda and salt) and good smelling spices (cinnamon). 

Each mummy will rest in this container until Monday. At that point, students will remeasure and refresh the mixture.  Students will measure and refresh five more times on a weekly basis.