Let's Get Sedimental: A Remix

Created Jan. 24, 2024 by Lindsey Layne

Summary

In this lab, students will investigate sediment sorting and deposition. Students will combine gravel, sand, clay and potting soil in a 2L bottle, add water and shake contents. The top of the bottle will be cut off and the water will be allowed to evaporate. Once the sediments have settled and dried, students will cut the bottle in half and observe the cross section. Students will make observations with a small group and record observations in a scientific journal or log. 

Timeline

This is an activity to begin when you are discussing sediment deposition in moving water. You will want to have the students create this before you begin the unit. This will allow students to develop true hypotheses of what they believe will happen. This is suggested so that it can dry while you are teaching the material. 

The creation section (steps 1-4) should take 30-40 minutes. The suggested group size is 3-4. You will need to provide students with a guide/handout to allow them to follow instructions.

The drying stage will take 3-5 days. It is suggested to have the creation phase happen on Wednesday before you start the section and the cross cut analysis on Monday. This will give the 2-liter bottle five days to dry out. If you want to speed up the drying process, place in sunlight with a fan blowing on the bottles. This will help with encouraging evaporation.

The analysis stage should take 30-40 minutes, depending on how stable the samples are and how many students are in the class. 

After the analysis, discuss with students carrying capacity of moving waters and how we can determine the age of a river by sediment deposition.  This can also be a great lead into relative age dating in aquatic environments. 

Supplies Needed

  • 2 Liter Bottles (1 per group)
  • Sand
  • Gravel
  • Clay-Rich Soil
  • Potting Soil
  • Scoops
  • Newspaper
  • Pipette
  • Scissors
  • Water

Procedure

  1. Groups add several scoops of gravel, sand, clay-rich soil, and potting soil to their 2-liter bottle. The bottle should be filled about 3/4 of the way.
  2. Once the material has been added, students will fill the bottle with water until the water level is one-inch above the surface of the sediment. 
  3. Have the students replace the cap to the 2-liter bottle and shake. Students will need to shake for about 5 minutes. This can be done by passing the bottle around the group.
  4. Cut off the top of the bottle about one-inch above the surface of the water.
  5. Place the 2-liter bottle, labeled with group number, in the sun to dry. 
  6. Once all the water has evaporated, cut the bottle and sediment vertically to create a cross section. 
  7. Have students make observations about where each of the types of sediments ended up.  
  8. Have students develop hypotheses as why this happens based on their observations.

Downloadable Documents


Download: Lets_Get_Sedimental_Student_Sheet.docx


Attribution

Original: "Let's Get Sedimental: A Study of the Process of Sediment Deposition and Particle Sorting by Scott Nemetz using provider Science Education Resource Center (SERC) at Carleton College license Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0.



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