In this hands-on activity, students will imagine that poundcake is a new element called "Poundcakium". They will cut the poundcake into several pieces until it is very small and they will be asked whether the poundcake is still the same "element", even though it's been cut into smaller pieces.
At the end of this exercise, students should be able to learn that no matter how small an item is cut it is still the same element, and they will learn that the poundcake is not truly an element but that it is instead a compound.
