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Case of the Disappearing Sand Castle
Introduce your child to the concept of erosion by building your own sand castle.
What you need:
What you do:
- Build a sand castle.
- Pour a bucket of water on the top of the castle.
- Watch what happens.
What you talk about:
Ask your child:
- What is happening to the size of the castle? (It's getting smaller.)
- What is causing the castle to get smaller? (The water)
- How do you think the water is making the sand castle smaller? (It is carrying away grains of sand.)
Tell your child that the carrying away of sand (or soil or rocks) is called erosion.
For older children: Tell your child that wind can cause erosion too. Ask your child to pretend to be the wind. Can he or she cause some wind erosion to the castle? (Your child may be able to cause some erosion on a dry part of the castle by blowing on or fanning the area.)
Illustration: Art Explosion