We suggest students work in pairs. Each pair will make a Tiny Ocean in a plastic sandwich bag.

We suggest four pairs of students (8 students) then work together in a group to add their Tiny Ocean to a Paper Bag Landscape. Homeschool students can work on their own.

Each Paper Bag Landscape needs to dry on a cookie sheet. So if you have 30 students, you will need enough space for 4 cookie sheets. See below for details.

Plan Your Time

If you have limited time, you can divide this lesson into two sessions.

Part 1 (create a Tiny Ocean) takes 35 to 40 minutes.

Part 2 (create a Paper Bag Landscapes) takes 15-20 minutes. Part 2 begins here.

Prepare Construction Paper

Cut each piece of construction paper in half so that each pair of students has 1/2 sheet.

Prepare Cups with Water and Salt

Divide your Dixie cups into two equal piles -- one for water, one for salt.

Pour ¼ cup of water into each cup in one pile.

Put a couple of teaspoons of salt into each cup in the other pile.

Prepare the Paper Bag Landscapes

Watch this video to see how we prepare the Paper Bag Landscapes.

Teacher Tip

After creating their Tiny Ocean, students will observe as their ocean dries, seeing the salt flat that is left behind. The time it takes for the Tiny Ocean to dry depends on humidity where you live. In Nevada, our Tiny Ocean dried in an afternoon. In foggy San Francisco, it took a few days.

You will need access to a refrigerator and microwave for this activity.

We suggest students work in groups of four, which works well because there are four experimental set-ups. Homeschool students can work on their own, but will need all four experimental set-ups so that they can make comparisons.

You will need several small plastic bottles for this activity (4 bottles for every group of four students, plus a few extras to have on-hand). We encourage you to use recycled bottles when possible.

Prepare the Water Bottles

You’ll need to start preparing for class the night before by refrigerating the cold bottles overnight. You can prepare the hot bottles in a microwave an hour before class.

First, if you are using recycled bottles, fill all the bottles with tap water. Then divide your bottles evenly. Half of these will be your cold water bottles and half will be your hot water bottles.

To prepare the cold water bottles:

• Open each bottle, drip in a few drops of blue food coloring, and close them back up.
• Place them in the refrigerator for at least a few hours to cool them down.
• If you’re in a rush, you can chill them faster in the freezer. You don’t want them to freeze, just be really cold.

To prepare the hot water bottles:

• Open each bottle and drip in a few drops of red food coloring.
• Leave the bottles open. (This is important! If you don’t, they may burst.)
• In our microwave, we heat 6 to 8 bottles at a time. We heat on high for one minute, check the temperature, then repeat until the water is hot. You will have to determine the best power setting, time, and number of bottles for your microwave. We suggest erring on the side of less power and time, to avoid overheating the bottles.
• When the water is hot, carefully remove the bottles (you may want to wear oven mitts!) and screw the tops back on.

Store hot and cold bottles in separate coolers until class. In our experience, they’ll stay warm or cool for at least an hour in a cooler.

Separate Materials for Easy Distribution

You may want to separate supplies for easier classroom distribution. Each group of four students needs the following:

We suggest students work in groups of four. Homeschool students can do the activity on their own, but we think it’s more fun with a few friends.

Plan Ahead

This simulation is very engaging and may take more than 20 minutes for students to complete. Consider dividing this lesson into two class periods. We’ve provided challenge questions in the Extensions for those who want to extend the activity.

Prep Glue Dots

Each student will need 6-7 glue dots. You may want to prep this prior to class to make distribution easier.

Separate Worksheets For Easier Distribution

At the start of the activity, students will need the Beachtown Engineers printout, scissors, and colored pencils. They will later need the Beachtown Budget, Final Plan, and some sticky glue dots. You may want to separate these supplies into two piles for easier classroom distribution.

Display Student Work

You may want students to post their work so that each group can see the similarities and differences in the engineering solutions. If you decide to do this, you’ll need wall space and supplies (tape or push pins) to display The Final Plan of each group.