Review: What happened to the shake test?

We looked briefly at the shake test from yesterday and witnessed that the materials in our stream table models settle differently. The sand settled to the bottom much faster than the clay. You can clearly see this separation in the picture below.

The Mystery of the Play Field Steps

Every school year I notice changes around the school yard. Sometimes I'm able to make connections with what's going on at our school with what we're studying in class. For example, the picture below is a mystery. I'm not sure what happened, but I have a theory as a scientist. I'm thinking that this connects to the Landforms Unit. Are you able to make any connections? Look at the stairs to the Play Field. There have been changes that have occurred over time to the earth that borders the perimeter of the stairs.

Q1: How did so much sediment end up on the sidewalk leading to the stairs?

What happened to the materials in the stream table model?

We revisited the stream table models to determine what happens to the materials during the time we poured 1 liter of water, representing 1 million years of rainfall, over it. We noticed that it moved the material from the water wearing it away, erosion. The video shows this process.

Now consider,

Q1: Where did most of the material end up? Remember this is called deposition.

Q2: What landforms do you see forming?

Let's look even deeper to find out how the sediment moves in the models. The stream tables we built are made out of sand and clay. Today I put the materials through the shake test. I simulated the material getting disturbed by flowing water. As you can see from the picture below, the mixture has a mocha look. What would you expect to happen to the materials?