In this activity, students build an edible aquifer using ice cream, food coloring, and other ingredients to represent the various layers. They will learn about groundwater, water tables, confining layers, contamination, and recharge. A link to a glossary of groundwater terms is provided. Full description.

The purpose of this resource is to explore soil and soil properties. Students discover the variability of soils, derive relationships among soils and the soil forming factors, and link the GLOBE Soil Investigation to the students. local environment. Students use soil samples from their homes to identify properties that characterize their soils. They compare and contrast their soils to those of their ... Full description.

The purpose of this resource is to learn how to estimate data results in order to minimize errors in reading or recording data. Students participate in a game in which they collect data using various instruments and calculations and then try to fool other data collection teams by exaggerating some of the data numbers. They do this activity first with data describing objects in the classroom, then ... Full description.

The purpose of this resource is to understand that soil, under different environmental conditions, plays a role in the decomposition of organic materials. Students use bottle experiments to observe changes in the decomposition of vegetable scraps. Students vary temperature, moisture, and light conditions to determine the conditions that best facilitate the decomposition of organic material in soil. ... Full description.

The purpose of this resource is to introduce the different particle sizes of soils and the properties which each contributes to the soil character. Students make mud pies by adding water to the various soil components, letting them dry and observing the pie's characteristics. Students sift soil to remove organic materials and pebbles. They then sift the soil with smaller meshed sieves to separate ... Full description.

The purpose of this resource is to sure the distribution of different sizes of soil particles in each horizon of a soil profile. Using dry, sieved soil from a horizon, students mix the soil with water and a dispersing solution to completely separate the particles from each other. Students shake the mixture to fully suspend the soil in the water. The soil particles are then allowed to settle out of ... Full description.

The purpose of this resource is to develop an understanding of some of the relationships between soils of different types and water. Students will time the flow of water through soils with different properties and measure the amount of water held in these soils. They will also experiment with the filtering ability of soils by testing the pH of the water before and after it passes through the soil ... Full description.

The purpose of this resource is to develop an understanding of how water flows through different soils and how it is transformed when it flows through these soils. Students time the flow of water through different soils and observe the amount of water held and also the filtering ability of the soils. They will also observe the filtering ability of soils by noting the clarity of the water before and ... Full description.

The purpose of this resource is to introduce students to gravemetric measurements - calculating the amount of water in a soil sample or other substance by weighting it before and after drying. Full description.

The purpose of this resource is to introduce students to the importance of soil. In the first activity, students generate a list of why soils are important. In the second activity, students are asked to describe the five factors that form a unique soil profile and to explore these concepts. In the third activity, students are shown a demonstration of how much soil there is on Earth that is available ... Full description.