Students in Ms. Marcinski's sixth-grade science class recently blasted off into outer space with a hands-on science experiment.  Students learned that comets are known to scientists as "dirty snowballs." During this lab experiment, students created a model of a comet using dry ice, coal, and various soil particles to represent the basic foundation of a comet.  Students applied heat using their breath and the heat from the sun.  As a result, students were able to distinguish and illustrate the length and direction of a comet's tail in relation to the sun.