Don't Drink This Shake!

Have you ever seen the layers of the earth? You may have noticed these layers along the sides of mountains where roads have been constructed, or if you have dug deep enough in a garden or backyard. These layers are created when soil is compacted down and over the centuries of time, the layers harden into rock. Soil is like the layer of icing on a cake. In this experiment, you can see how soil settles into different layers.

What you need:

• Large glass jar with lid
• Soil
• Nonmetallic objects like paper, erasers, marbles, buttons, plastic or plants
• Gravel
• Sand
• Water
• Pieces of seashell, snail shell, sticks or other materials from your area

What you do:

1. In the jar place the soil, gravel, sand and shells or other material until the jar is about half full;
2. Add water to the top of the jar;
3. Put the lid on tightly;
4. Shake the jar until the materials are mixed;
5. Using the prediction chart, try to guess which materials will be at the bottom of the jar, which will be in the middle, and which will be on top;
6. Leave the jar in a quite place to stand until all the materials have settled and the water is almost clear;
7. Look closely at the materials and see how closely you predicted the order in which they would settle.

Prediction Chart for Don't drink This Shake

Before the shake up!

Draw lines across the jar and predict the order in which the materials will settle.

Prediction Chart for Don't drink This Shake

After the shake up!

Draw lines across the jar and label the order in which the materials settled.