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Lesson 10 of 15 · Earth Systems

Experiment30 XP🌋 Rock Realm

What Causes Ocean Tides

🧪Lab Brief #10

Earth Systems.

🎯 Your mission

Set it up. Test it. Be amazed.

⚡ The twist

The slowest changes are the biggest ones.

🤯

Mind = Blown

🪨 Every grain of sand on every beach used to be a mountain.

🔮

Make a hypothesis first

Predict: which will erode faster?

What You'll Learn

Tides are the daily rise and fall of ocean water caused mainly by the Moon's gravity pulling on Earth. Most coasts experience two high tides and two low tides each day as Earth rotates.

Key Words

Tap a word to see its definition.

Materials Needed

  • rocks
  • water
  • plastic tray

Safety First

  • Wash your hands thoroughly afterwards and keep the material away from your face.
  • Mop up spills straight away so nobody slips, and keep liquids away from sockets.

Steps

Step 1Read

Look at the vocabulary words and write a definition for each in your own words.

Step 2Do

Model erosion: tilt a tray of soil and pour water from a cup at the top. Observe how channels form. Try adding plants or rocks to slow the erosion.

Step 3Observe

Look for patterns in your observations.

Step 4Record

Make a graph or chart showing your results.

Check Your Understanding

Question 1

1 of 3

What causes wind?

🌍

Where you see this in real life

This is shaping the ground you walk on, slowly, every single day.

🏆

Stretch Challenge

Try this in real life this week.

Find a rock outside and try to guess how old it is.

👨‍👩‍👧

For the dinner table

What's the slowest change you can think of?

🎯

Next Smart Experiment

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🧪Share card

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Send it to a parent who's looking for a 10-minute kitchen science win.

Ready?

What Causes Ocean Tides

Set it up. Test it. Be amazed.

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🖨️

Checkout complete lesson on Earth Systems for 5th Grade

Get the full Earth Systems track as a printable PDF — all lessons, worksheets, and answer keys.

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What Causes Ocean Tides — Earth Systems | 5th Grade Science | LittleActivity