Volunteer Resources

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Give students a deeper understanding of your profession with Volunteer Resources featuring standards-aligned classroom activities. Each activity includes a detailed lesson plan to prepare you for your visit to a local school. Access the resources today to illuminate the mining industry for future career professionals!

Volunteer Guide

CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES

Choose from one of the two activities that best meets your classroom volunteer needs. View the volunteer guide below to learn more. And, don’t forget! Encourage educators to explore Dig Into Mining’s Teacher Resources to extend the learning beyond your classroom visit!

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Copper Wars

Grades 6–12

Students will learn about the conductivity of copper as they join the “Dark Side” of a popular science fiction universe. Students will build an LED “lightsaber” out of popsicle or craft sticks, copper tape, LED lights, and a battery. They can choose the color of LED light to symbolize their allegiance, and use “force” from copper to illuminate their lightsaber!

Lesson Plan

Volunteer activity homopolar

Homopolar Motor Motion

Grades 6–12

Students will discover how the Lorentz force can be used to create a homopolar motor out of just a few magnets, a battery, and copper wire. Once they understand how this process works, students will be able to get creative, bending the copper wire in such a way that they can create spinning shapes, spirals, or even a dancing figure on the top of their motor!

Lesson Plan

Dig Into Mining Volunteer Guide

This guide was created to help volunteers bring Dig Into Mining resources to classrooms and beyond by preparing you to work with students in small and large-group settings. It provides tips and suggestions for volunteers to engage, explain, discuss, and effectively facilitate copper-focused activities to support the next generation of mining professionals.

Volunteer Guide

MINING OVERVIEW VIDEO

Mining touches so many aspects of modern life. Without it, materials like Copper to carry electricity, aluminum for aircraft, iron and steel for construction - wouldn’t be readily available. Give students a front row seat to modern copper mining processes!

Watch Video

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