Soils
Lesson 14
Exploring Your Local Soil
Students begin to investigate local soil by inspecting it with a hand lens, and conducting roll and smear tests.
3. Lesson set up and Management
SYSTEMS 1.1-Properties: Understand how properties are used to identify, describe, and categorize substances, materials, and objects and how characteristics are used to categorize living things
GLE 1.1.1 Understand simple properties of common natural and manufactured materials and objects: Sort common materials and objects using a simple property and Identify and describe the differences between common natural and manufactured materials and objects using properties.
GLE 1.1.5 Understand physical properties of Earth materials: Sort rocks based on size, shape, and other physical properties and Explain how some Earth materials are used by living things.
SYSTEMS 1.2-Structures: Understand how components, structures, organizations, and interconnections describe systems
GLE 1.2.1 Understand that things are made of parts that go together: Identify the parts of objects, organisms, and materials and Describe how the parts of objects, organisms and materials go together and Construct simple devised to do common tasks using common materials and explain how the parts depend on each other.
GLE 1.2.3 Know that common materials are made of smaller parts: Sort objects based on component parts and Show that people use magnifiers to observe things they cannot see with their eyes.
INQUIRY 2.1-Investigating Systems: Develop the knowledge and skills necessary to do scientific inquiry.
Students perform previously learned tests to analyze local soil. |
- Simple tests can be performed to identify soil components.
- Test results should be observed, recorded, organized and interpreted to draw conclusions about soil composition.
- Test results can be communicated through writing, drawing, and discussion.
- You can use previously learned concepts and skills to analyze unfamiliar soil samples.
3. Lesson set up and Management
Materials:
Students will need access to all the materials they used in the first five lessons to perform tests on local soil.
If record sheets are to be used, be sure to copy them.
Have students bring in a sandwich-sized re-sealable plastic bag of soil from their family garden or flower bed. Have extra local soil collected in earlier lessons for students that don't bring in garden soil.
Student Management:
Teachers may have to prompt students as to what tests to do since it has been some time since the wet and dry tests. Students tend to jump past observation to the "messy tests" and need to be reminded that observation is also very important.
This lesson and the next lesson are embedded assessments. Teachers should observe students' ability to conduct various tests, control variables, record data and arrive at conclusions.
Although the clay provided in kits is orange, that is not necessarily true of all clay. It can be a variety of colors, including grayish, tan, or brown. Be sure to point that out to students.
Writing Support:
Teachers who want to give their students experience with the investigation format used on the Science WASL should consider using the following alternate record sheets.