NSES: Teaching and Assessment Standards A-E Grade Level: 3Rd

Topic: Soil Date: 12/11/08 NSES: Teaching and Assessment Standards A-E Grade level: 3rd

SOL 3.7-The student will investigate and understand the major components of soil, its origin, and importance to plants and animals including humans. Key concepts include... a. soil provides the support and nutrients necessary for plant growth; b. topsoil is a natural product of subsoil and bedrock; c. rock, clay, silt, sand, and humus are components of soils; and; d. soil is a natural resource and should be conserved.

Subject: Science

Daily Question: What is soil composed of?

Procedures for Learning Experience Guiding Questions Materials Evaluation Approximate Needed (Assessment) Time Needed Engagement: At the beginning of class, the -What do you think these -Crossword -Student -ten minutes students will be given a “soil” word search words have to do with? puzzle attentiveness and and asked to complete it as quickly as -Brainstorm definitions to -Highlighters participation. possible. This should serve to get them a few of the words that you -Completion of the thinking about these terms and ready for a do not understand. crossword puzzle fast paced class on soil. Set a time to pressure the students and make the crossword feel more like a competition. Allow the students to use highlighters to capture the words that they find. Inform the students that after this, they have a very important mission to complete. 2 Exploration: The students should turn their -What are three things you -cup of soil -Student -fifteen attention to the “Mission” wikispace found in soil you were -tweezers attentiveness and minutes projected on the board. All of the students dissecting? -paper towels participation. will be given a cup of soil, a pair of tweezers, - Did you notice a -Quality of notes and a paper towel. The students will be difference in the contents taken during the given fifteen minutes to “dissect” their soil. of the soil from the top exploration. They should use the tweezers (or fingers) to layer and the bottom layer? pull out particles from the soil and then -How do you think that soil record them on a separate sheet of paper. is made? Have the students take note of what particles -Why do you think soil is they find at the top of the soil and also what important for the earth and they find at the bottom layer of the soil. The the people that live here? students should pull out the particles they find instead of simply leaving them in their cups. If any creatures are found, they should be carefully removed from the soil, recorded, and released back into the wild. The students should perform this activity individually and their noise level should be monitored. The students should wash their hands and then put away everything on their desks. As a whole group, the class should briefly come together and make a list on the board of everything found in their soil. The class should come back to this list at the end of the explanation and see if their results coincide. Explanation: The students will use a -What are the five layers of -laptop for -Student activeness -fifteen wikispace soil that make up the soil every group and participation minutes (http://thirdgradesoilfun.wmwikis.net/) to horizon? of four -Quality of the evaluate and learn about soil. They should -Why do you think it is students subsequent be in groups of four and navigate throughout called the “soil horizon”? worksheet the lesson to become a soil “expert”. The - What is in each layer of -Quality of the students will learn all five layers of the soil the horizon? notes taken on the horizon and what they are composed of. supplemental video They should follow along according to their clips worksheet and fill in the corresponding 3 information. If the students finish navigating through the wikispace early, they should watch the two videos on soil and science and take notes. If the teacher feels that adequate notes have been taken on the videos, then the student should be issued extra credit on the assignment. After fifteen minutes, the class will come together and discuss briefly what they learned. The teacher should go through and explain each level of soil using the worksheet projected on the board. Extension: Once the discussion has ended, -Why is it important to -cup of soil -Student activeness -ten minutes the students should each be given a new cup conserve soil? labeled with and participation of soil and five sunflower seeds. They -What do you imagine the student’s should plant the seeds in their cups and then would happen if there was name bring them to the window. The teacher will no more soil on the Earth? -five sprinkle each cup with water and place them sunflower in the sunlight. The next day, and days seeds per thereafter when the plants begin to grow, the child students should learn about the importance of -water soil to both plants and human life. The -sunlight students will be able to see the importance of soil growing before their eyes.

Notes: 1) It is CRUCIAL that the students wash their hands before using the laptop and show the teacher that their entire desk area is cleaned off and ready for the laptop. 2) Monitor the student’s usage of the computer to make sure they are not venturing away from the soil wikispace. 3) The teacher should be preparing the cups of soil both while the students are doing their crossword and also while the students are using their wikispace to aid in the flow of the lesson. 4 5

Name ______Date______

Soil Y F MY B D T T L T F H E F R Y K X X L D K S D MA O L U MI Y X Q Y Q F G R G V V Q C L E K B B H Q P O MN G F H Y O N J P U ML D N MS I K N C Z S U J P R U A B C I X P WP J Q H Y S E Q C S A P E C Y O K I E L S L Y G Z D X O J H V D R Z S A V T B Q C H Q Y G H N I P K I H B N Z V O R G G C A U T U A V V J I N G U R H WF H O V H X Q K E K D C L G R N O O E WQ B WG U I T WH Q O E X R U I K C O R D E R E H T A E WT H T J I T P V A Q U F T L Z H Y WT V A N Y X MT P G N I WO L P R U O T N O C X N Y T F O R O Q Q MO P F F U V U K C O R D E B R A O Q F P V Q X D F U R U D K WWA Y C S D O U L V Z C C H S I H V Q K U L A P U L U O B L D X S U B S O I L Z D Q L I ME WI N V D I N H R Z S G N L R K C R U A N E E V G P H F MV S O K V J A N T H L I N G S L I O S P O T K I A O J G S

SOIL HUMUS WEATHERED ROCK TOPSOIL SUBSOIL BEDROCK CLAY LOAM STRIP CROPPING CONTOUR PLOWING 6

Name:______Fill in the spaces with the letter of the horizon and what would be found in that layer of soil based on what you read in the website! Have fun 