Ocean in a bottle

We began our week by reading Mister Seahorse by Eric Carle and explained that we would be making a habitat (home) for the characters of the book. We washed and dried a two-litre bottle and removed the labels. Next we filled the bottle halfway with tap water and added a few drops of blue food colouring and swirled it around to mix it up. We added glitter and sea creatures for effect. Lastly we filled the bottle almost to the top with vegetable oil using a funnel and sealed the cap.
 
We discussed how Mister Seahorse tumbles and turns in the water in the book. Then we turned the bottle on its side and gently rocked it to create a wave inside our ocean habitat. The children were so impressed with the effectiveness of this and we have kept the bottles in the classrooms for them to use and observe.