Sedimentary Rock Activity Sheet
1. Fill your jar about 1/3 full with the rocks, pebbles, sand, and soil
2. Now add water so all the layers are covered
3. What do you think will happen if you shake up the jar?
4. Put the lid back on the jar and carefully shake the jar until all layers are mixed.
5. Watch the sediment layers slowly settle. What do you see happening?
6. Measure the layer of one size of sediment every 10 seconds until it stops settling
and record it in your data table.
Sediment type:__________________
Time
(units:___)
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
110
120
Thickness
(units:___)
Trial 1
Thickness
Thickness
(units:______) (units:_____)
Trial 2
Trial 3
Average
Thickness
(units:________)
7. Once all the layers have settled, measure the layer of each size group and record it
in your data table.
Sediment
type
Thickness 1
(units:_______)
Thickness 2
(units:____)
Thickness 3
(units:_____)
Average Thickness
(units:____)
Rocks
Pebbles
Sand
Soil
8. Shake the jar again, and repeat steps 6 and 7. Do this 3 times total, and then
calculate the averages.
9. Create 2 graphs, one graph showing the thickness of a layer changing with time
and one graph showing the different layer thicknesses for size groups.
10. What do your graphs show?