Curious Minds by Ty Kolstedt

Author:Ty Kolstedt
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Chicago Review Press
Published: 2016-11-04T04:00:00+00:00

PART IV

EARTH SCIENCE

DON’T MOVE—YOU’RE IN QUICKSAND!

Content Focus: Earth Science

Primary Skills Focus: Measuring and Observing

Mission Objective: Muck through the science behind quicksand and then make your own to demonstrate how it is formed.

We’ve all seen the movies. An adventurer turns a corner and is sucked into the earth by a pit of quicksand. When it seems the victim will be completely swallowed up, he or she is saved by grabbing a tree branch to hang on to and escape certain death! Is this for real? While quicksand does exist and has trapped people and animals in the past, it isn’t as dangerous as the movies make it out to be. In this activity you will become an expert in quicksand—what it is and what to do if you are ever caught in it. You will even get to make your own.

Quicksand is formed when sand and water are mixed together in just the right combination. Normally, sand can support some weight. When too much water is mixed with sand, the sand particles become separated from one another by water. This is called saturation. Because of this, there is no friction in between the sand particles and they can’t support any weight. What looks like a solid can quickly turn to a jelly-like liquid if you take a wrong step! You can see this principle when you visit a lake or beach. The driest sand is able to support you just fine, but you begin to sink more and more as you walk on more saturated sand.

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