Curated OER
Soil Research
Third graders work together in groups to discover the importance of soils. Using a worksheet, they answer questions as they surf the internet. They observe three different types of soils and record their observations and use the internet...
Curated OER
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.
National Park Service
The Secret of Life
Dead trees provide nutrients for the soil, food for animals, protection and a home for organisms, a seed-bed for new trees, and a place for nitrogen-fixing bacteria to live. In the activity, pupils collect decaying logs, expose them to a...
Baylor College
Needs of Plants
What better way to learn about plant life than by creating a class garden? Young botanists start with a brief discussion about radishes before planting seeds and watching them grow. To determine the importance of water, sunlight, and...
Curated OER
Characteristics of Plants
In this characteristics of plants worksheet, students conduct an experiment on how a vascular plant moves nutrients to all its parts. They describe the difference between the celery leaf from sugar water and plain water. Students also...
Curated OER
Sustainable Agriculture
Students perform an experiment to find out if plants grow best when grown in soil with no fertilizer, with chemical fertilizers, or with compost that they have made themselves. Students discover how agriculture practices can benefit the...
Curated OER
The Root Show
Students investigate plant roots. In this plant lesson, students discover the function and structure of plant roots. Students plant a plant in a milk carton with a clear section cut out in order to observe the roots of the plant.
Curated OER
Dirt Life
Students select and collect soil samples from a variety of locations (schoolyard, home, etc.). They do this lab after an interest-generating discussion about "dirt" and microbes. Students make a dilution in sterile water, plate it on a...
Curated OER
Chemistry In Plant Nutrition And Growth
Students investigate different factors that affect plant growth. They research the effects of water supply, radiant energy, air temperature, and soil temperature. Students also gather facts that influence plant nutrition that include the...
Curated OER
Soil and Agriculture: Lesson 4 - Agriculture and Soil
Students determine how the various levels of minerals in the soil, as well as the pH of the soil, affect the growth of plants in these plant growth experiments.
Curated OER
Field Crops in the Agro-ecosystem
Ninth graders explore how to apply ecological analysis to cropping systems. In this agro-ecosystem lesson students study management practices including soil and fertility.
Curated OER
Eco-enrichers
Students discover the importance of plant and animal components within soil. In this soil instructional activity, students test the quality of soil. Students then conduct an experiment adding different components to bags of soil to see...
Curated OER
TE Activity: How Fast Can a Carrot Rot?
Students experiment to define which environmental factors favor decomposition by soil microbes. They decompose carrots in dirt, weigh the carrots periodically to determine how long it takes. They look at how engineers use this type of...
Curated OER
Eat Your Flowers
Learners grow flowers in different soil mediums to determine the effect on flavor. In this investigative lesson students study flowers, plant them and taste them to see how they differ in different potting soils.
Curated OER
WALK, DON'T RUN
1. Bring two quarts of moist soil, a cake pan, a sprinkling can of water and a quart of grass clippings to class.
2. Share background material, and introduce the word "erosion."
3. Prepare a small model hill by mounding the soil in the...
Curated OER
A Hidden Beauty
Expose the beautiful mystery of bulbs as young botanists learn all about these fascinating plants. They glean information from a short text before observing actual bulbs (consider an onion), and comparing their findings with predictions....
Curated OER
Bacteria
Young scholars study the advantages and disadvantages of bacteria. In this bacteria lesson students draw and label the different types of bacteria.
Curated OER
Soil Microbiology- Nitrogen cycle
Students take a virtual trip to a Catfish Aquaculture Pond and analyze soil bacteria to determine how many nitrogen cycle bacteria are present. They graph the number of colonies present and use data to determine ammonium levels in the soil.
Curated OER
Selecting Soil Organisms in Compost
Students conduct an experiment to demonstrate that many of the enzyme systems needed to break down society's wastes exist in nature among the decomposers in a compost pile. They culture compost bacteria on starch agar to examine the...
Curated OER
Plant Nutrition
In this plant nutrition activity, students read for information and assess comprehension. In this true and false, fill in the blank, multiple choice, and short answer activity, students answer ten questions.
Curated OER
Word Grid
For this soil worksheet, students find words that represent soil words in a word search. Students search for 9 words in this word search.
Nuffield Foundation
Nitrogen-Fixing Bacteria in Root Nodules of Leguminous Plants
Fixin' to add a great resource to your plans? Scholars perform an experiment to investigate nitrogen-fixing bacteria from plant roots. Along the way, they learn about the concepts of symbiosis and mutualism.
Curated OER
Hydroponics
Students examine how to grow plants using a hydroponic system. In this hydroponics lesson students identify the advantages and disadvantages of growing plants hydrologically.
Curated OER
Mighty Oaks from Little Acorns
What does it mean to grow? To germinate? For the plan detailed here, class members investigate the growth process of an oak tree while focusing on the beginning stages of planting and germination. They plant seeds and record observations...