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Title
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Observing Sediment Deposition
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Type
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Primary: Laboratory
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Operation
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Resilient Planet
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Mission:
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Mission 3: Paradise Lost
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Print Page
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55
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Subjects
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Science | Earth and space science | Earth processes | Sediment deposition | Science as inquiry | Science process skills | Modeling | Observing
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Grades
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5 | 6 | 7 | 8
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Keywords
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Observing, sediment, deposition, ecology, Chesapeake Bay, Sylvia Earle, turbidity, cloudiness, abiotic, biotic, alluvial fan delta, river, runoff, steam table, ring stand, water, sand, deposit, channel
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Duration
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00:45:00 (HH:MM:SS)
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Audience
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Teachers | Elementary Grades | Junior High
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Created On
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4/20/2008
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Copyright
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NASA
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From: Resilient Planet Mission 3: Paradise Lost (pp: 55) |
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Observing Sediment Deposition This lab allows students to model the formation of an alluvial fan delta, similar to those that form at the mouths of great rivers. |
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While studying the ecology of the Chesapeake Bay, Sylvia Earle measures the turbidity, or cloudiness, of the water to determine the amount of suspended particles in the water. Sediment deposits form when abiotic and biotic particles are picked up and transported by the flow of water. When a river meets the Bay, the flow of water slows down. This allows the force of gravity to pull the sediment to the bottom. Sediment accumulates in areas like wetlands and deltas or human-made obstructions like dams. In this lab, students will model the formation of an alluvial fan delta, similar to those that form at the mouths of great rivers. |
Sediment runoff in this satellite photo of the upper Chesapeake Bay comes from multiple sources, including deforestation, farm fields, and construction sites. |
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| Materials |
- Lab 1 Data Sheet
- stream table
- ring stand and ring
- 2 styrofoam cups to fit ring
- 1 two-liter plastic soda bottle
| - 2-3 pea-sized pebbles
- block of wood about 5 cm high
- sand
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| Lab Prep |
- Follow your instructor’s directions on how to prepare a stream table. Make sure the sand is dampened and smooth before running the model.
- With a pencil point, carefully poke a small hole in the bottom of one cup and a larger hole in the bottom of the other. Place the cup with the small hole in the ring on the ring stand.
- Tilt the water table to create a slope by placing a block of wood under one end. Create a small body of water at the lower end of the stream table. The body of water represents a bay.
- Arrange the ring stand so the cup is over the sand at the higher end of the stream table.
- Using the soda bottle filled with water, fill the cup. Make sure you continue to refill the cup as it empties.
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| Make Observations |
- Run the model by allowing water to trickle slowly from the cup onto the sand. Watch carefully how the riverbed begins to form. Does only one channel form or several? What happens to the sand as it washes down the slope? How does the sand deposit in the body of water at the lower end of the stream table? Sketch your observations.
- Once a single channel develops, place the pebbles in the channel. Did the flow of water change? How? Did the pebbles affect the deposition of sand in the body of water?
- Now change the cup to the one with the larger hole. You are now modeling an exceptionally wet season. How does the increased flow affect the channel or the deposition? Record your observations.
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Journal Question
As more people want to settle along the shores of the Chesapeake Bay and the rivers that feed into the Bay, how might human development make an impact on the process of sediment deposition? | |
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