3.6 and 3.7 – Mantle Simulation LabWarm-Up: Using your group’s 3-page map, mark the

list of earthquakes on your desk with a triangle. Next, send one person from your group with your map to the Big World map and mark your earthquakes with triangles.

Next class…go over notebook quiz.

Mantle Simulation LabKeep careful notes…you will write a lab report

for this experiment!

Explanation of lab

Safety precautions

Materials2L bottle

Plastic cup

Aluminum foil

Pencil

Red and yellow food coloring

Hot and cold water

Rubber band

ObjectiveOur objective is to observe what happens

when a cup of warm water is lowered into a bottle of cold water. This movement of water is meant to simulate movement of the Earth’s mantle.

HypothesisWhat do you think will happen when the

warm water is released into the cold water? Why do you think this will happen?

Procedure

1. Cut off the top of a 2L bottle and fill to about 5-6 cm from the top with cool tap water.

Procedure

2. Put 1 drop of red and one drop of yellow food coloring into the small plastic cup.

Procedure

3. Fill the plastic cup with warm water almost to the top.

Procedure

4. Cover the plastic cup with a square of aluminum foil and place a rubber band around the lip of the cup to keep the aluminum foil in place.

Procedure

5. With the sharp end of the pencil, create two holes in the top of aluminum foil about 2 cm apart by pushing the pencil through the foil.

Procedure

6. Make a handle for the cup by carefully placing the pencil with the eraser side up underneath the rubber band (see “Mantle Simulation” sheet.

Procedure

7. Slowly lower the plastic cup down into the 2L bottle. When the cup reaches the bottom, hold the handle so that the cup is positioned with one hole above the other.

Procedure

8. Observe what happens in your experiment. Take careful notes in your science notebook. Note the direction of the flow of the warm colored water. How does it move?

Procedure

9. Draw and label your “Mantle Simulation” sheet with the movement of the water.

Procedure

10. Clean up!

Gallery WalkCreate a poster that includes the following information:

A sketch and description of how the water movedYour ideas about what’s causing the warm water to moveA diagram of how you think the Earth’s mantle moves and

whyStrengths and weaknesses of this model (the Mantle

Simulation Lab)

How does material in Earth’s mantle move and what affects does

that have on the Earth’s crustal plates?

Video 1Pay attention to the movement of the water

Why does it look like it travels upward?

What happens at the surface of the water?

With a partner…What else do we need to know to better explain why

the water moved the way it did? What else would you need to know to better explain how Earth’s mantle could be moving?

Remember what you saw at the surface of the water. What do you think would happen if two pieces of cardboard floated on top of the water? Why?

Video 2What’s happening to the cardboard?

Aha! The warmer, colored water moved upward through the cooler

water. As the warmer water rose, the cooler water moved down, or sank, replacing it. It works the same way in the

mantle. As material in the mantle becomes warmer, it rises, and as it cools, it sinks. This sets up a repeating pattern of rising

and sinking material in the mantle. The movements in the mantle cause the plates to move. The next section will help you understand why this continuous rising and sinking is happening.