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Why is the ocean salty?

Why is the ocean salty?
Lesson narration:
English Spanish
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This water is so salty that people float in it without even trying! Do you think something REALLY heavy will float?
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Check it out! Even with a heavy rock on top of him, this person can still float!
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Salt can help other things float too! Try this: drop an egg in water and it sinks. Add salt to the water—it floats!
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You know that farmers raise animals or grow plants, but SALT farms exist too. What do you think those look like?
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Hint: if salt water dries up (evaporates), it leaves salt behind like this! Does this give you any ideas?
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Here’s a salt farm! When ocean water dries up, salt is left behind. The salt in your kitchen comes from here!
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Hmm…all of these animals are licking rocks! Why do you think they’re doing this? What is on the rocks?
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They’re licking salt off of rocks! Animals and people need some salt to survive. A farmer gave this lamb a salt block!
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Check out this pink lake in Australia! This lake has tons of salt in it. But why would a salty lake be pink? Any ideas?
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Look at the water under a microscope. See the tiny pink creatures? They love salt, and make the water look pink!
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What kind of birds are these? (You’ve seen them before, but something seems different…)
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They’re flamingos! Their feathers only turn pink IF they eat a certain thing. Can you guess what they eat?
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Flamingos eat the tiny pink creatures that love salt! So, salt gives us bright pink flamingos!
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Lesson narration:
English Spanish

Overview

In this mini-lesson, students learn why the ocean is salty, in addition to learning the difference between freshwater and salt water.

Exploration

5 mins

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