Hair Raising Erosion/Deposition
Materials: hair dryer, sand, potting soil, aluminum baking pans, a rock, and a small amount of water in a spray
bottle. (You may want to choose to do this activity outside with extension cords.)
Procedure 1:
1. Lay about three cups of potting soil in the bottom of the pan.
2. Turn the hair drying on low and blow across the top of the soil. What is happening to the top layer of soil?
3. Experiment with the position of the dryer and the force of the air. Is there a way that the soil just moves
around the pan and is not blown away?
4. Wet the soil slightly with the spray bottle.
5. Repeat steps 1-3 with the wet soil. Is there a difference?
6. Remove the soil from the pan.
Procedure 2:
1. Lay about three cups of sand in the bottom of the pan.
2. Repeat steps 2-3 from procedure 1 with the sand. Are your observations the same? Different?
3. Wet the sand and repeat the hair dryer process. What are your observations?
4. Push all the sand to one side of the pan. Place a rock towards the center of the pan.
5. Turn on the hair dryer so that it is at the same end as the sand and is pushing the sand towards the rock.
Does the sand collect near the rock? What side? Why do you think this happens? What would form if the
air continued and the sand kept building up?
Hair Raising Erosion/Deposition
Materials: hair dryer, sand, potting soil, aluminum baking pans, a rock, and a small amount of water in a spray
bottle. (You may want to choose to do this activity outside with extension cords.)
Procedure 1:
1. Lay about three cups of potting soil in the bottom of the pan.
2. Turn the hair drying on low and blow across the top of the soil. What is happening to the top layer of soil?
3. Experiment with the position of the dryer and the force of the air. Is there a way that the soil just moves
around the pan and is not blown away?
4. Wet the soil slightly with the spray bottle.
5. Repeat steps 1-3 with the wet soil. Is there a difference?
6. Remove the soil from the pan.
Procedure 2:
1. Lay about three cups of sand in the bottom of the pan.
2. Repeat steps 2-3 from procedure 1 with the sand. Are your observations the same? Different?
3. Wet the sand and repeat the hair dryer process. What are your observations?
4. Push all the sand to one side of the pan. Place a rock towards the center of the pan.
5. Turn on the hair dryer so that it is at the same end as the sand and is pushing the sand towards the rock.
Does the sand collect near the rock? What side? Why do you think this happens? What would form if the
air continued and the sand kept building up?