ACTIVITY 7
SINK HOLE EROSION: “A sinking feeling…”
HANDOUT 7-A
MATERIALS for ACTIVITY 7:
4 prepared styrofoam cups
4 larger containers
Pad of “Sticky Notes”
Ziploc bag of Extra Super Fine Granular sugar
Ziploc bag of aquarium sand
Ziploc bag of pea size aquarium gravel
Ziploc bag of dry clay (dug from a clay bank and pulverized)
Ziploc bag of sand, clay, gravel mixture
Eight 8oz bottles of water
Funnel
Timer
2 Tablespoons, one labeled A (for Sugar) and one labeled B (for other Materials)
HANDOUTS 7-A, 7-B, 7-C
DIRECTIONS:
1. Roll a “Sticky-Note” into a tube (make four). Center the “Sticky-Note” tube over the
hole in the bottom of the cup labeled SAND.
2. Holding the “Sticky-Note” tube upright, use the funnel and Tablespoon A to add one
tablespoon of sugar to the tube.
3. Using Tablespoon B, add nine tablespoons of sand to the cup without getting any
sand in the “Sticky-Note” tube of sugar.
4. Very carefully pull the “Sticky-Note” tube out of the sand, leaving the sugar in the
middle of the cup surrounded by the sand.
5. Using Tablespoon B, add enough sand to fill the rest of the cup and cover the sugar.
6. Carefully place the cup labeled SAND into the larger container.
7. REPEAT steps 1 – 6 for each of the materials clay, gravel, and the sand-clay-gravel
mixture using the cups labeled CLAY, GRAVEL and SAND-CLAY-GRAVEL (NOTE:
BE SURE THIS COMBINATION IS MIXED THOROUGHLY. THIS WILL INSURE
APPROXIMATELY EQUAL PORTIONS OF THE THREE INGREDIENTS ARE ADDED
TO THE CUP.)
8. Slowly pour water into the larger container until the water reaches approximately half
way up the OUTSIDE of the cup.
9. Observe for THREE minutes and record what happened in both written and drawn
observations on HANDOUT 7-B.
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