Description

Gladys Stansbury and Cathy Ready

Pacific Edge Publishing

150 pp, blackline masters, b/w illustrations

Level: Grades 5-12

Summary

You won’t believe how many fun and fascinating things you and your students can do in a study of soils until you check out this new resource. Students will learn about land forms, geology, biology, and the physical process of weathering, sedimentation and capillarity of soil. The connection between soil conservation/degradation and agriculture is explored, clearly demonstrating the importance of soil to the production of food.

Comment

This is a hands-on unit that your students will love, with everything you need to get started right away.

Table of Contents

– Preface and Acknowledgments
– Introduction
– Planning the Unit
– Goals of the Intermediate Program
– Instructional Strategies
– Safety Suggestions
– Assembling Resources
– Assessment and Evaluation
– Introductory Activities
– Spelling/Vocabulary List
– Curriculum Integration
– Unit Overview

The Lessons

1. A Soil Hunt/The Field Trip
2. Looking Up Close
3. Sorting out Soils
4. Soil Texture
5. Soil Percolation
6. Soil Capillarity
7. Successful Soils
8. Giving Soils a Boost
9. Hold that Soil! Erosion
10. Saving Our Soil and Land
11. Open House

 Extension Activities

– Experiment Activity Sheet
– Teacher’s Notes
– Where Did They Go? Nutrients in the Soil
– Where’s the Mud?
– What Can Water and Chemicals Do to Rocks?
– Garbage Delights
– Decay – How Does It Work?
– There Is Mold in the Soil Too
– Roots in the Soil
– Just What Is in This Soil?
– Where Do the Nutrients Go?
– Creating a Worm Farm
– Can a Log Become Soil?
– Research Masters
– Evaluation Tools
– Bibliography
– Newspaper Articles