Ocean Zones

We read several fiction stories that referenced the different zones of the ocean and the children were fascinated, so we dug a little deeper and got a few nonfiction books that 

explained the zones a bit further.

The depth of the ocean is characterized by the amount of light each zone receives. The deeper you go, the darker it gets. 

The amazing thing about the ocean is that there are creatures and organisms that live in each zone. 

Most living creatures and plants live in the sunlight zone... 

that is the middle of the five zones.

We used a variety of household ingredients to create the layers in a jar which also became a little lesson in liquid density.

The bottom zone is called the trench and is dark black. 

We used corn syrup tinted with a little black paint.

Next, we created the abyss layer using Dawn dish 

detergent with a little added blue food coloring.

The third layer is the midnight zone.

For this layer we added a bit of blue liquid 

watercoloring to some water.

 It was fun to using a funnel when we were 

pouring the liquid into the jar.

For the twilight zone, we just used oil because we couldn't get any of the water-based food coloring to mix with it. 

In case you didn't know... water and oil don't mix.

Finally, the top zone is called the sunlight zone.

We used rubbing alcohol and dropped it in one drop 

at a time so it wouldn't penetrate the oil.

Here is our simulated version of the ocean zones in a jar. 

We placed it in the window and the natural light helps 

each layer to be more visible.

You could even try to do this in a water bottle.