Layers of the Earth Cake

Year 9 has just started their Third Rock From the Sun unit, which begins inside the Earth as students learn about the layers beneath their feet. 

I know that this topic is both popular and successful because the year-group it was first taught to in Year 9 is now in Year 11, and when I surveyed my Year 11's about which topics they remembered best and felt most confident in, "volcanoes" and "layers of Earth" came up again and again. Because of that my Year 11's will be doing the Surface Features of NZ internal assessment later this year, to play to those strengths. 

Anyway, back to the current Year 9's. I thought a good way to welcome them in to science this year and introduce the idea of modelling in science would be with a cake!

If anyone wants the recipe for sponge layers then here it is:

Pre-heat oven to 175 degrees C.

Beat 7 small eggs (or 6 large ones) on high for 1 minute. 

Slowly add in 1 cup of sugar and beat on high for 8 minutes.

Measure and mix 1 cup of flour with 1/4 teaspoon baking powder.

Sieve and fold in the flour mixture to the eggs 1/3 at a time, making sure to get the flour off the bottom of the bowl (where it likes to sink to).

Pour half the mixture into a baking-paper-lined cake tin.

Add some food colouring to the rest of the mixture and then pour that into another cake tin.

Bake for 25 minutes.

Make sure students can name the layers of the Earth before they get to take a piece on the way out the door!