Beach Buckets

In this activity, learners explore a bucket of sand and beach objects. First they sort items using observable characteristics, then they turn hard candy into "candy sand" to model where sand comes from. The lesson plan includes step-by-step facilitation instructions and questions to ask. It's written as a guide for use as an interactive exhibit or cart demo in a museum or aquarium, but it can be done by anyone who can get materials from a beach. The activity aims to get learners looking more closely at sand and other items on a beach, asking questions, and becoming more aware of how beach debris might harm organisms.