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Lesson Plan
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Kenan Fellows

Sustainability: Learning for a Lifetime – Soil

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Do great gardeners really have green thumbs—or just really great soil? Environmental scholars discover what makes Earth's soil and soil quality so important through research and experimentation. Learners also develop an understanding of...
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Lesson Plan
K20 LEARN

How Does Your Garden Grow?

For Teachers 8th - 12th Standards
Seventy thousand different types of soil exist in the United States alone. Young scientists learn about the importance of soil to the food supply. They test soil for a variety of factors and determine the best place to set up a community...
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Lesson Plan
Teach Engineering

Dirty Decomposers

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Do not let the class just sit and rot. Pupils learn how decomposition and nutrient recycling is important to an ecosystem. Groups design an experiment to determine how environmental conditions affect decomposition. They develop a poster...
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Unit Plan
Columbus City Schools

What is in that?

For Teachers 6th Standards
Invite your class to dig in to an engaging journey into the world of mining! Here you'll find the tools to equip young miners with knowledge of soil, rocks, and minerals, as well as types of mining operations. To round things out, the...
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Unit Plan
Columbus City Schools

Rocking the Cycle!

For Teachers 6th Standards
Time to rock out! Discover the "life" cycle of the average rock using an illustrative stations lab and stimulating pairs game. Roll the dice to determine your fate: will it be melting in magma or chilling out to form igneous rock? The...
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Lesson Plan
Captain Planet Foundation

Sorting Out Soils

For Teachers K
Sift through soil and learn about why it's important for organic processes. After discussing what makes up soil, such as the living organisms and what types of soil have more nutrients, kids sample layers of mulch and deeper soil to...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Water in the Geosphere

For Teachers 5th - 8th Standards
Through a PowerPoint presentation and the embedded animation and video, earth science enthusiasts find out about the moisture in the soil beneath our feet. In the animation, follow a water molecule on its path through the water cycle. As...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Sensational Soil

For Teachers 4th - 5th
Fourth and fifth graders explore soil by taking a simulated field trip under the earth. They go to an Internet site that runs a simulation which charges them with finding a source of pollution that could destroy all of Earth's soil, and...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Settlement Exploration: Then and Now

For Teachers 6th - 8th
NASA has crafted an imaginative and memorable series of lessons, "NASA and Jamestown Education Module." This activity is one of the five components. In it, middle schoolers connect history and science by comparing the settlement of...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Independent Plant Growth Experiment

For Teachers 6th - 8th
This is an awesome lesson filled with tons of engaging learning activities. Over a period of weeks learners will make observations, collect plant and analyze plant data, read and review agricultural articles, design and conduct an...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Who Cares for the Land?

For Teachers 2nd - 3rd
A very thorough lesson plan focuses on what plants need to grow and stay healthy. There are excellent reading activities and worksheets included in this fine plan. A terrific way to introduce a unit on plants and their needs.
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Worksheet
Curated OER

Soil Testing

For Students 5th - 8th
Earth science learners experiment with the water-holding properties of sand, pebbles, and clay. They apply their findings to the building of a well. This activity is engaging and tactile, and it demonstrates the importance of considering...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Earth Rocks!

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Young scholars study the basic elements of the Earth's crust: rocks, soils and minerals. They categorize rocks, soils and minerals and how they are literally the foundation for our civilization. They also explore how engineers use rock...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Super Soil

For Teachers 5th - 6th
Students compare the organic matter found in soil. In this soil lesson plan, students compare a commercial garden mix soil to their local soil and determine which has more organic material.
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Lesson Plan
NASA

Behavior Over Time: Analyzing Seasonal Soil and Air Properties

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Moisture can affect air temperatures and so much more! An analysis of NASA soil moisture data allows pupils to make connections between climate and weather features. They first review general data and then select a specific location to...
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Lesson Plan
PBS

Curious George: Sand and Soil

For Teachers Pre-K - 1st Standards
Two sensory tables—wet and dry—allow scholars to use their sense of sight, touch, and smell to observe the changes when the dirt mixes with water. A short video relates the STEM learning experience to a fun video clip where Curious...
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Activity
American Museum of Natural History

Make a Terrarium

For Students 6th - 12th
Scholars read a brief overview of what a terrarium is and how it creates the greenhouse effect, then click on a link to discover the materials and 10 steps they need to build their own.
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Lesson Plan
University of Colorado

Marvelous Martian Mineralogy

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
All you need is light. Groups use a reflectometer to find the reflectivity of specific chemical compounds. Learners compare the graphs of the reflectivity of the known compounds to Martian soil. Using the graph comparisons, scholars...
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Activity
Museum of Science

Worm Farm

For Teachers K - 6th Standards
It is not a barrel of monkeys—it's a jar of worms! Scholars create a worm farm in a spaghetti sauce jar. Pupils layer moist soil, sand, and oatmeal to create a habitat for worms. Individuals place worms into the habitat, cover it with...
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Activity
University of Waikato

Growing Soil Microbes

For Teachers 3rd - 12th
View how microbes grow in soil. Class members first create a Winogradsky column to grow bacteria. They then set up the column of mud in a plastic bottle and include a food source for the microbes and observe the column of mud over the...
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Activity
University of Waikato

Investigating Soil Moisture Content

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Class members analyze the water content in soil samples by drying out the samples and taking measurements every minute until all the moisture is gone. Scholars compare the initial weight to the dried weight to calculate the percentage of...
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Unit Plan
George Watts Montessori

Primary Lessons for Classroom and Garden

For Teachers Pre-K - K
Gardens are packed with science concepts for young scientists to explore. A thorough unit with 16 lessons and multiple activities in each provides many learning opportunities by examining a garden space. Learners study weather, growth,...
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Unit Plan
Curated OER

Lower Elementary Lessons for Classroom and Garden

For Teachers Pre-K - K Standards
Learn important science topics by exploring the hobby of gardening. A 16-lesson unit explores several science topics through the lens of gardening. Pupils learn about erosion, soil characteristics, capacity, and several other topics as...
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Lesson Plan
National Wildlife Federation

Soil Decomposers

For Teachers K - 8th
Worms are the kings of the decomposers. A four-part lesson has learners experiment with the characteristics of earthworms and their sensitivities. They vary factors such as light, acidity, temperature, and touch of soil and observe the...