Lesson 69 of 84 · Earth's History
Experiment⭐ 30 XP🌋 Rock RealmTides and the Moon (Part 2)
Earth's History.
🎯 Your mission
Run the experiment. Find out what really happens.
⚡ The twist
Today's mountain was yesterday's ocean floor.
Mind = Blown
🪨 Every grain of sand on every beach used to be a mountain.
Make a hypothesis first
Guess: where will the water go first?
What You'll Learn
The water cycle describes how water moves through Earth's systems. Water evaporates from oceans, condenses into clouds, falls as precipitation, and flows back to the ocean.
Key Words
- natural resource
- conservation
Materials Needed
- rocks
- sand
- clay
- water
Safety First
- Do not mix unknown chemicals together.
- Tie back long hair before starting the experiment.
- Protect your work surface with newspaper or plastic.
Steps
Review the background information on Earth's History before starting.
Create a model of the water cycle in a bowl: place warm water in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, put ice on top, and observe condensation and precipitation.
Compare the before and after states.
Write your conclusion: did the results match your hypothesis? What would you change next time?
Check Your Understanding
Question 1
1 of 3What is erosion?
Where you see this in real life
Today's weather, tomorrow's beach, next century's coastline — all this.
Stretch Challenge
Try this in real life this week.
Look at the sky for 5 minutes and try to predict tomorrow's weather.
For the dinner table
“What's the slowest change you can think of?”
Next Smart Experiment
We'll pick an experiment that matches exactly how you're thinking right now.
Share this experiment
Send it to a parent who's looking for a 10-minute kitchen science win.
Checkout complete lesson on Earth's History for 6th Grade
Get the full Earth's History track as a printable PDF — all lessons, worksheets, and answer keys.