Make Ocean Zones in a Jar
There's one big ocean and lots of things living in it! Make an Ocean Zones jar so that your child can clearly see the ocean layers and learn about liquid density in the process.
Materials
Before You Play
Start a discussion with your child about the many layers of the ocean. Each layer of the ocean is called an ocean zone. These zones are divided up based on how much light each zone receives. Talk about how there are plants and animals that live in each of the ocean zones, but most of them are in the sunlight zone. What creatures might live in each layer? How might those creatures have adapted to live in different layers? What might each layer look like and why?
Here are the five ocean zones that will go in the jar (in order from bottom to top):
- Trench Zone: Corn syrup (tinted black)
- Abyss Zone: Dish soap (tinted purple)
- Midnight Zone: Water (tinted dark green)
- Twilight Zone: Cooking oil (tinted dark blue)
- Sunlight Zone: Rubbing alcohol (tinted light blue)
Directions
Set out your jar on the table.
In a bowl, add drops of all three colors of the food coloring to the corn syrup. Mix together until it turns black. Using the funnel, add it to the jar. This is the Trench Zone.
In a clean bowl, add the red and blue food coloring to the dish soap. Mix together until it turns purple. Using the funnel, add the dish soap to the jar. This is the Abyss Zone.
In a clean bowl, add several drops of green food coloring to the water. Mix until it turns dark green. Using the funnel, add the water to the jar. This is the Midnight Zone.
In a clean bowl, add several drops of blue food coloring to the cooking oil. Mix until it turns dark blue. Using the funnel, add the cooking oil to the jar. This is the Twilight Zone.
In a clean bowl, add only one drop of blue food coloring to the rubbing alcohol. Mix until it turns light blue. Add this layer very carefully so the water and oil zones don't get mixed up. This is the Sunlight Zone.
Label each zone and observe the layers.
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