Grade level: Grade 5-6.
Provincial curriculum links: Quebec.
Subject: Science; Language.
Keywords: Soil, water, earth, compost, clay, sand, dirt, experiment.
Students will work in groups and look at four different kinds of soil (garden soil, clay, sand and compost). They will need to describe each kind, and then add water to observe what occurs.
The topic includes all ranges.
Specific Lesson Goals
Students will be able to identify different kinds of earth, and be able to describe the differences with a richer vocabulary.
This fits in well with lessons in life-long learning, an integral part of the curriculum reform in Quebec.
8 small containers (1/2 cup) with lids
Measuring cups
Adequate amounts of sand, garden soil, compost and clay to fit into two containers each
Science write-up sheet (See example in Procedure - Part 2)
Pencils
Divide the class into 5-8 groups. It is important that each group has at least one of the containers of soil and that each student be able to touch each sample.
On the board, list the four types of soil.
Each group describes the physical characteristics of each soil type and records their observations on the write-up sheet. They then make their educated guesses as to which soil is in each container.
Each group has a minimum of eight minutes to work on each soil sample until each group has seen all four samples.
Observe what happens when 1/4 cup of water is poured into each soil sample.
Students describe their findings in groups and will follow-up with an individual science write-up.
Allow about five minutes for each group to discuss their findings
An appointed chairperson for the group reports to the class what his/her group observed with the sample of soil.
|
Container Number |
Observations |
Our Guess of Soil Type |
What Happened When We Added Water |
Our Discoveries |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1 |
|
|
|
|
|
2 |
|
|
|
|
|
3 |
|
|
|
|
|
4 |
|
|
|
|
After Part I:
Discuss as a class:
Can you guess which soil sample is which? How did you come to that conclusion?
What new vocabulary did you learn from this lesson?
Group observation, participation and co-operation
Individual write-up sheet
If the soil proves to be a problem in terms of water retention, mixing the soil with some of the other soils may be beneficial. The samples can be mixed with small amounts of soil of the group's choice (ie. Clay with sand, or clay with compost) to see if the result is a more loamy soil.
I made this one up because we had so much clay in the yard, and so the idea of knowing what kind of soil you have is important. References to Quebec curriculum.
Submitted by: Anna-Maria Nicolov - Royal Oak School <anicolov@rsb.qc.ca>