We suggest students work in pairs. Each pair will make a Tiny Ocean in a plastic sandwich bag.

We suggest four pairs of students (8 students) then work together in a group to add their Tiny Ocean to a Paper Bag Landscape. Homeschool students can work on their own.

Each Paper Bag Landscape needs to dry on a cookie sheet. So if you have 30 students, you will need enough space for 4 cookie sheets. See below for details.

Plan Your Time

If you have limited time, you can divide this lesson into two sessions.

Part 1 (create a Tiny Ocean) takes 35 to 40 minutes.

Part 2 (create a Paper Bag Landscapes) takes 15-20 minutes. Part 2 begins here.

Prepare Construction Paper

Cut each piece of construction paper in half so that each pair of students has 1/2 sheet.

Prepare Cups with Water and Salt

Divide your Dixie cups into two equal piles -- one for water, one for salt.

Pour ¼ cup of water into each cup in one pile.

Put a couple of teaspoons of salt into each cup in the other pile.

Prepare the Paper Bag Landscapes

Watch this video to see how we prepare the Paper Bag Landscapes.

Teacher Tip

After creating their Tiny Ocean, students will observe as their ocean dries, seeing the salt flat that is left behind. The time it takes for the Tiny Ocean to dry depends on humidity where you live. In Nevada, our Tiny Ocean dried in an afternoon. In foggy San Francisco, it took a few days.