- Activity 1, Day 1
Show students the containers or layered rock used in Lesson 1. Ask students if this looks like soil. Tell students they are going to take a walking trip outside to collect some material. Note: Go over safety rules to follow such as:
Take students outside for a walk. Instruct students that they are looking for dried leaves, small sticks, twigs, and small rocks.
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When they find some material they are to let you know and you allow them to collect or you will collect the material.
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Place all material in the resealable plastic bag. When filled, return to the classroom.
In this activity students will take the layered rock they have from Lesson 1 and combine with material found during their walk. Pour out the water from the container slowly, leaving the layered material only. You may pour the contents of the bottle into a paper plate or cut the container and scoop the material out. Allow the material to dry or pat dry with paper towels. Say, “We are going to add all of these dried leaves, twigs, sticks, small rocks, and other material we collected from outside to the layered material we made earlier.” Give each student a small resealable plastic bag and place a small amount of the gathered material inside. Tell each student they are going to carefully crush their material into even smaller pieces. Remind students to be careful not to tear the bags. Add some of the layered material from Lesson 1 to each of the student bags. Tell students to carefully begin to crush the material so that it breaks down into smaller pieces. Ask, “What does it look like we are doing to the material in the bag?” Students should begin to relate the concept of weathering or breaking down of earth material.
Give students a paper plate and have them place a small amount of the material on the plate. Have students observe the content and record their observations in their student journals. Ask, “Has the material in the bag changed? What caused it to change? How was this activity like what might happen in the natural world? What can we call what is in the bag? What type of material was added? Was the material living material or nonliving material?” Note: Make sure students have a good understanding that dirt is under fingernails and on their hands and clothes. Soil has living and nonliving materials. The addition of leaves, sticks, pebbles, etc. should model how living and nonliving materials are found in soil.
After students have spent time observing the contents of their bags, have them stop and bring their bags back to you. You will empty their bags back into the larger resealable plastic bag or a clear plastic container while students wash their hands and use hand sanitizer to kill microbial growth from the soil. This material will be used in the next day’s activity.
Activity 2, Day 2
In this investigation students will observe the soil from their newly crushed material made previously and compare it with soil found in the schoolyard. Take a small container and trowel and go with the class to a selected area. Get 2 cups of soil and place it in the small container. Have students observe both the container of crushed material and the container of soil collected. Record students’ responses on a chart or Venn diagram (S-3-3-2_Rock and Soil Venn Diagram.doc).
Place two 1-liter clear soda containers on a flat surface and fill both 2/3 full of water. Using a funnel, carefully pour about 2 cups of soil collected from the schoolyard into one of the 1-liter containers. Next, carefully pour about 2 cups of the “student” made soil into the container. Have students observe the two containers as the soil is placed in each. Ask, “What is happening when the soil is put in the container? What happens when the containers are shaken? How will the bottles look tomorrow?”
Make sure the tops are secure and then vigorously shake each container. Once the contents of the bottles are mixed, place each container in an undisturbed area and let the contents set for 24 hours. After 24 hours, students observe and record what they see on the Dirt Observation Sheet (S-3-3-2_Dirt Observation Sheet.doc).
Display the two containers in this lesson. Ask students the following questions:
“Do both containers look alike?”
“What can you find in soil?”
“Do you think soil is renewable or a nonrenewable resource found on earth? Why?”
“What is the recipe for soil?” Soil must contain minerals, decayed plant and animals, water and air.
“What must soil have that dirt does not?” You want students to understand that dirt is weathered rock and soil is both weathered material (minerals) and decayed plants and animals.
“Soil is made up of 25% water, 25% air, 5% organic matter (dead plants and animals) and 45% rock. What parts of this soil recipe are nonliving? What parts are living? Which of our soils would you think is best for living things? What would you do if your soil did not have a good recipe?”
Take a spoonful of this mixture and add a spoonful of potting soil, sand, pebbles, and more rocks and place in a small container. Add a bean seed and place in sunlight and monitor for water. Have students observe the seed throughout this unit. Compare the bean seed’s growth with the bean seed that was planted in Lesson 1.
Extension:
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Students who are going beyond the standards can collect soil from home, place it in a clear soda container, and repeat the layering process. Have students compare the samples with those at school. Determine if they are the same or different. What might be the reasons they are the same or different?
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Students going beyond the standards can look at a soil pie chart. Have students color the nonliving parts of soil one color and the living parts of soil another color.
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Students who might need opportunities for additional learning can gather rocks from home and compare them with class rocks. They can rub the rocks together and observe the small particles.
