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2. Ocean Floor Model
Objective:
Students construct a simulated model of the ocean floor in a shoebox or other container.
Materials, if you want to make them:
· salt (1 part)
· flour (2 parts)
· food coloring (2-3 drops)
· warm water (1 part)
· bowl
· spoon
· cardboard shoe box (with lid)
Procedures:
1. Place water and food coloring in a bowl, add salt and mix, add flour and continue to mix to form dough.
2. Sketch out a plan for the ocean floor which includes abyssal plains, continental shelf, slope, continental rise, guyot, island, rift valley, seamount, trench, mid-ocean range, and subduction zone.
4. After a plan is completed, decide whether you want to use the homemade mixture, use play dough, or whatever you would like to create the ocean floor with the dough on the bottom of the cardboard box or other “not too large” container.
5. The dough will dry in 3-5 days.
For an A: You must label all 11 ocean features and include the definition for each, either on the model or on a separate sheet of paper.
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3. Desalinate Sea Water
Purpose: To demonstrate how the solar system, specifically the water cycle, produces fresh drinking water through desalination of sea water.
Materials:
· Iodized salt from the grocery store
· Any type of water
· Ceramic cup or mug
· Large glass bowl- large enough for the glass to fit inside
· Plastic cling wrap
· Rock or small weight
· Sun or light source
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Estimated Time: About ten minutes to set up, then several hours to days to complete
Step-By-Step Procedure:
- 1.Pour the drinking water into the cup or mug so that it's about 1 inch deep.
- 2.Mix some of the salt into the water. Add enough so the water tastes salty. Note that if you drink some of the water, make sure to re-add water so it's at a depth of about 1 inch.
- 3.Pour the salted water from the cup into the bowl.
- 4.Rinse the cup and dry it, ensuring it's free of any salt residue.
- 5.Place the cup in the center of the bowl.
- 6.Cover the bowl top tightly with your plastic cling wrap. Ensure there are no open spots around the rim.
- 7.Find a safe and clean place that gets LOTS of sunshine or light source, such as on a window sill. Put the bowl down where it can get the most amount of sun.
- 8.Place your rock or weight on top of the plastic wrap, right above the cup. The rock or weight should cause the plastic wrap to sag in the center above the cup. This step is essential to ensuring the water falls into the cup, so make sure it's right.
- 9.Wait several hours.
- 10.Water condensation should form on the underside of the plastic wrap. Where you have your rock / weight placed you should see drops of water formed and flowing downward slowly into your cup. Once the cup has some water in it (there will be a small amount) you can pull back the plastic wrap and remove the cup.
- 10.Drink the water. It's now pure and clean, free from any salt!
For an A: Bring in your experiment (everything), answer the following 3 questions in one typed paragraph, and include two other paragraphs, describing two desalination projects currently going on in the world. 1. How is the plastic wrap similar to that of a greenhouse?
2. What if you were to add some food coloring to the salt water. Would the resulting water that forms in the cup still be clear?
3. What do you think would happen if you used tomatoes or melon as a substitute for the salt water?
