Name:_______________________________ Period: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Date:_______________________
Erosion
Lab
Instructions: Using the sand you have in your erosion container you are going to be modeling
various processes of erosion. You will be using several agents of erosion including wind, water,
and gravity.
Materials Needed:
Erosion Container
Beaker
Spray Bottle
Sand
Ruler
Straw
Toothpicks
Water
Small Rocks
Funnel
Popsicle Stick
Plastic Sheet Soil
Wind Erosion Experiment
Take your erosion container and fill up one side or half of it with 8cms of sand. Place seven or
eight small rocks randomly on top of your sand pile. This example of erosion is going to
simulate wind traveling across the face of sand and rocks in a desert.
1. Draw a side view and a top down view of what your erosion container currently looks
like.
Side View
Top View
Have one member of your group use their binder and the container lid to block the back of the
container so sand doesn’t go flying everywhere. Have the other member of your group take
the straw and blow horizontally across the face of the sand. Do this for several minutes until
you have formed small sand dunes on the opposite side of the erosion container that you did
not previously have sand in.
2. Draw a side view and a top down view of what your erosion container looks like now
after performing this experiment.
Side View
Top View
3. Outside of just moving sand around what other effects might the sand grains have as
they are tossed against the surface of other rocks?
Gravitational Erosion Experiment
Take your erosion container and fill up the entire container half way with sand. Flatten out the
sand as much as you can. Start raising the pan a centimeter at a time and notice the amount of
sand that slowly falls from the raised side to the lowered side of the pan. You are going to
create a line graph with this information below. On the x-axis of your graph you should title it
“Distance Erosion Pan Lifted” and on the y-axis you need to estimate the “Percentage of Sand
Eroded.” Your percentage is going to be an estimate so you will need to estimate out of 100%
of the sand what percentage is being moved downhill. Discuss it with your group and come up
with a figure.
4. Use the space below to graph the information described above comparing the slope of
the erosion pan with the amount of erosion occurring. Make sure and label your graph
and include at least 8 data points.
5. What is gravity? How strong is it?
6. Describe several instances when gravity might influence soil on a hillside?
Tidal Erosion Experiment
On one side of your erosion container build up a small beach of sand that occupies about ¼ of
your erosion container and that fills up the erosion container completely with regards to the
beaches height. Now take 400mL of water and fill in where the ocean would be on the
opposite side of the container away from your beach.
7. Draw a side view and a top down view of what your erosion container currently looks
like.
Side View
Top View
Now take a small plastic sheet and stick it down in the water all of the way on the far end of the
container opposite to your sandy beach. Gently push the plastic sheet forward creating a miniwave or tidal action that will slowly erode your beach. Repeat this process for several minutes
until your beach is almost entirely eroded away.
8. Draw a side view and a top down view of what your erosion container looks like after
performing your experiment.
Side View
Top View
River Erosion Experiment
Remove your sand from your erosion container and replace it with soil. Flatten out the soil 7
cm’s deep across ½ of your erosion container. Take a popsicle stick and slowly making a
winding river across the surface or your soil. Your river should end at the edge of your erosion
container that contains no soil. Place a few small rocks along the side of the river.
9. Draw a side view and a top down view of what your erosion container currently looks
like.
Side View
Top View
Now take the funnel and slowly add water to the mouth of your river. The water should slowly
flow from the mouth of the river to the edge of your soil plateau. Slowly add additional water
and watch for erosion to take place.
10. Draw a side view and a top down view of what your erosion container looks like after
performing your experiment.
Side View
Top View
Rain Erosion Experiment
Take your soil and get it partially moist so that your soil will stick together. Form a tall
mountain in the center of erosion container by squishing the soil together. Now take the spray
bottle and fill it up with water and start to spray the different parts of your soil mountain
formation. Continue to do this and erode away the majority of your mountain.
Now reform your mountain in the exact same manner you did the first time. This time stick 15
toothpicks halfway down into the soil, they are going to represent our tree in our erosion
model. Also place 5 small rocks across the surface and slopes of your mountain.
11. Draw a side view and a top down view of what your erosion container currently looks
like.
Side View
Top View
Now go through the process of eroding your mountain again with the spray bottle.
12. Draw a side view and a top down view of what your erosion container looks like after
performing your experiment.
Side View
Top View
13. What was the major difference between the 1st time you performed this rain erosion
experiment and the second? Why? How did the trees and the rocks effect the rate of
erosion?
Follow Up Questions
14. What is erosion?
15. List and describe 6 specific examples of erosion.
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
F.