Baylor College
What's Is Soil Made Of?
It's time to roll up those sleeves and get a little dirty in the second lesson of this series on the science of food. Investigate where plants and animals get the minerals they need to live in this two-part exploration of soil. First,...
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Does Soil Get Soggy?
Study the properties of soil and water absorption with a science activity. Based on a paragraph with background knowledge on sandy soil, silt, and clay soil, third graders choose which illustration represents a bottle full of sandy soil....
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Agricultural Practices in Kansas: Comparing Agricultural Practices Before and After the Dust Storms of the 1930s
Knowing about history is one thing, learning form it is another. Rather than just discuss the causes and effects of the Dust Bowl, this presentation discusses what we learned from the Dust Bowl. Presented are the types of agricultural...
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How Much is Dirt Worth?
Dirt is worthless, isn't it? Find out the true value of dirt, and by dirt I mean soil. The class explores what makes soil, the types of soil, and what happens when soil becomes void of its nutrients. There are several great activities,...
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Regents High School Examination: Physical Setting Earth Science 2006
Test your class on earth science with this extensive resource. This test, created by The University of the State of New York Regents, is made up of 50 multiple choice questions and 32 short answer questions that cover the branches of...
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FBI
Fourth graders experiment with compost. In this Science lesson, 4th graders begin a worm compost as well as an outdoor compost. Students discuss decomposition.
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Building Soil Nature's Way: Exploring decomposition and soil health
Students explore decomposition and soil health by creating their own garden. In this agriculture lesson, students build a "lasagna garden" with organic matter found in the area and plant perennials native to their region. Students are...
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Peace Corps Challenge Game: Soil Runoff
Students examine the causes and effects of soil runoff. In this environment lesson, students look at ways in which soil runoff is controlled. Students then play a game and discuss how the Peace Corps deals with soil runoff in African...
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Erosion
In this erosion worksheet, students complete a crossword puzzle given 17 clues about the types of erosion, the causes of erosion and the results of erosion.
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Take a Stab!
Your geology class practices taking core samples of a potato to examine the stratigraphy. This is a terrific modeling lesson that helps youngsters visualize strata that cannot be seen from the surface of the ground. The directions...
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Do new kinds of insects appear after soil modification?
Young scholars explore and experiment with the concept do new kinds of insects appear after soil modification. They assess and review scientific methods of observation, predicting, variables, math skills, ratio, proportions, graphs and...
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Land Assessment
High schoolers work in small groups on a problem based learning activity. Students are presented with a problem of buying land to use for educational purposes only and must determine if it is feasible to buy it based on soil analysis and...
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Losing Ground
Students examine how effects of farming practices in the early 20th Century contributed to severe soil erosion of a large portion of the North American grasslands.
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Make Your Own Biodegradable Plastic Stuff
Students identify the four basic natural resources. They distinguish bettween renewable and non-renewable resources. Pupils recognize that all natural resources are needed by living plants and animals. Students list consequences for...
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Soils
Students apply knowledge of soil, environmental impacts, economics, multiple human demands, and use given data for a proposed scenario in making land use decisions. They debate land use issues and/or scenarios and discuss a case study.
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Plantable Pulp Cards
What a great way to give a gift that keeps on giving! These homemade plantable cards are not only beautiful, but can be planted into the ground to sprout in the right season. Incorporate this project in a science unit, or for a Mother's...
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Water Cycle
Identify and interpret the earth's different water sources. Third and fourth graders describe and demonstrate the process of the water cycle, make a model of its two main parts, and predict and infer to answer questions about the model.
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Environmental Requirements
All aspects of soil and its components are reviewed here. Your class will learn how certain organisms help the quality of the earth and support growth. Different ways to enhance the chemical make-up are described and will be valuable...
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Soil Characteristics
Components of soil, such as inorganic or organic materials are detailed along with the main contributions of each. Deposits, weathering, and distinct types of characteristics and properties of soil classes are given.
San Francisco Public Utilities Commission
What is Groundwater? Our Underground Water Supply
Learn about the consequences of groundwater with a lesson about the different ways California handles water conservation and pollution. After reading a passage about the water table, learners apply what they have read to six...
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Compost Lesson
If you are looking for how to introduce elementary environmentalists to the process of composting, here is a comprehensive outline for making it happen. The plan is to set this up at the beginning of a school year in order to observe the...
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Know your roots!
Looking at an image of plant systems with their roots in the ground, learners determine which would be the most or least difficult to pull. They write short sentences describing which plant they chose and why. Intended for 3rd or 4th...
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Garbage in the Garden
Students create their own compost. In this soil instructional activity, students fill a bag with waste and soil, in order to create a mini compost bin. Students observe the baggies over a 6 week period, they record their findings and...
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Soil Runoff Challenge
Learners find ways to decrease soil runoff for an African Village as a part of a Peace Corps project. In this soil runoff lesson, students play a soil runoff challenge online. Learners complete online activities and view a slide show to...