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Course

Elementary School: Messy Discoveries

SIO-90033

Ready to get messy in the name of science? 

 

Students will conduct messy and noisy experiments as they investigate glaciers, volcanoes, earthquakes, landslides, permafrost, sea level rise and tsunamis. We will make slime-like “flubber” to model glacier movement and create a landscape in a box to simulate the destructive power of earthquakes and tsunamis. Students will also observe lava flow in a volcano fueled by baking soda and vinegar. These and other fun, hands-on experiments provide an engaging introduction to geology, seismology, oceanography and other branches of Earth science.

What you'll learn

  • Learn about glaciers, volcanoes, earthquakes and other Earth science phenomena through messy experiments.
  • Gain a basic understanding of a variety of phenomena in Earth science.
  • Model the movement of a glacier using “flubber”.
  • Use water and ice to simulate ice-ocean interactions.
  • Create a landscape in a box and then model the effects of earthquakes and tsunamis.
  • Observe a model volcano during an eruption caused by combining baking soda and vinegar.
  • Learn about the forces that cause landslides.
  • Investigate how sea level rise affects salinity.

Course Information

1.50 units
TBD

Course sessions

Please contact the Pre-College Programs department at 858-534-0804 or precollege@ucsd.edu for information about this course and upcoming sections.