The following information was provided to teachers in an email on April 6. We hope you'll find this overview valuable!
Dear Science Educators,
Looking for activities for your virtual classrooms around soils and plant science topics? We've been building resources for you, with the help of scientists and educators, and most are free! You may be familiar with our websites - www.soils4teachers.org and www.agronomy4me.org from our communications and outreach at NSTA.
We know you’re busy building virtual classrooms right now, so hopefully some of the resources on our sites will be helpful.
Be well and thank you for all your efforts!
Highlights on the www.soils4teachers.org site:
- State soils booklets for all 50 states - tell the story of the unique soils found in the US. Activities include a state soils word search and worksheet to accompany the booklets,
- Webinar on Soils: Foundation for Life - digs into the basics of soil. This recorded webinar (from 2019) includes powerpoints and covers what soil is, properties of soils, how it forms, and more. Activities are included and tie to the topical areas,
- 12 videos from the International Year of Soils, narrated by Jim Toomey - short videos packed with information with fun animations,
- For younger kids (and anyone who just wants a bit of fun) is our Coloring and Activity book on soil - with twelve topics.
- Of course, our Lessons and Activities page categorizes soils topics and grade level. All activities posted on this page have been reviewed by scientists on our outreach committee.
We missed you all at NSTA!
- Like you, we were sad not to attend the NSTA meeting in Boston. So, until we meet again at NSTA, here are links to the activities we showcased for soils (including a unit on soils) and agronomy/crop science at the 2019 meeting in St. Louis.
- When we do see you at NSTA, we'll be unveiling a cool poster on soils, developed with the help of your colleagues, other science teachers. Get a sneak peek here!
And, suggested resources also come from our members:
- Here's a link to a video I made to help all of the hard working teachers (my wife is one) develop online videos to share content with their students and stay connected. Using Camtasia to Make Visually-Interesting, Engaging Educational Videos during COVID-19 and Beyond.
- These videos highlight the importance of seeds in everyday life, and the advances in crop yields over the years through research and breeding. They're from the Seed Science Center at Iowa State and are 10 minute videos and have activities that can be downloaded from https://www.seeds.iastate.edu/seeds-diversity-wonder
