This Classroom Connectors lesson plan teaches young students about the different kinds of soil. This includes what soil is, layers of soil on the Earth, and the properties of these soils. The site provides goals, objectives, an outline, time required, materials, activities, and closure ideas for the lesson. The Classroom Connectors address content with an activity approach while incorporating themes ... Full description.

This Classroom Connectors lesson plan teaches young students about the living and non-living components of soil. The site provides goals, objectives, an outline, time required, materials, activities, and closure ideas for the lesson. The Classroom Connectors address content with an activity approach while incorporating themes necessary to raise the activity to a higher cognition level. The major motivation ... Full description.

This Classroom Connectors lesson plan teaches discusses how soil is formed as a product of weathering and organic processes. Students learn the differences in soils in terms of texture, mineral content, and where it is formed, and learn to develop soil profiles. The site provides goals, objectives, an outline, time required, materials, activities, and closure ideas for the lesson. The Classroom Connectors ... Full description.

This site is the host for the Sciences of Soils online journal which contains information about all aspects of soil science. There are archived journal articles available to view, as well as the Soils Online database. Soils Online was created to guide soils scientists through information on the internet. This includes links to virtual libraries, organizations, teaching materials, and various topics ... Full description.

This activity allows students to experiment with different soil structures and discover the ability of each to carry a specific load. The Tower of Pisa is leaning because it was built on highly unstable ground right above an old river bed. Students will make their own soil mixture and see how well it supports a brick on end to learn what kind of soil is best to build on. This activity has a stated ... Full description.

In this activity, students will observe how different density soils and rocks behave in wind and in water. They will make predictions and careful observations as they learn about sediment transport and sediment rates in streams and rivers. Upper junior high and high school science classes can extend the activity to include environmental discussions of agricultural runoff, turbidity measurements, and/or ... Full description.

In this activity students collect a representative soil sample from a piece of land as an introduction to soil testing and other soil activities. Using the sampling patterns and techniques discussed in class, they will collect and label a sample of soil from their garden, lawn, or fields. Using the provided Soil Data Sheet, students will record information about their soil as they develop it. A soil ... Full description.

In this activity students test soil samples for percent composition of air, water, organic material, and minerals. They will record the data on their data sheet or in a notebook. Students will understand the four basic soil components and realize that these components can vary widely within a small geographic area. Full description.

In this activity students use screen sieves to determine the percent of sand, silt, and clay in a soil sample. They then use a tertiary soil diagram to determine the generic soil name of their sample. Students will learn to use particle size analysis as a tool to determine a soil's texture and understand the role of sand, silt, and clay sized particles in a soil. The site has a link to obtain the ... Full description.

This activity involves previously collected soils from each horizon of a soil profile. The bags from one soil profile are given to a group and the students put the bags in the proper order. This involves student groups looking at each other's sample bags as well as their own and sharing information. After some discussion, during which the instructor makes certain that the students have gotten the ... Full description.