Students will learn about what makes soils different colors and will practice classifying soils with a simplified color chart. Soil art project suggestions (soil paints, dirt shirts) are included at the end.

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Organization
University of Tennessee
Discipline
Earth and Space Sciences
Grade Level
3-5
6-8
9-12
Lesson Area
Soil Basics
Lesson Type
Activity
Lesson Keywords
Soil color
munsell color
Soil Paints

Next Generation Science Standards

Grade Discipline Core Idea
3-5 ESS2.A: Earth materials and systems

Four major Earth systems interact. Rainfall helps to shape the land and affects the types of living things found in a region. Water, ice, wind, organisms, and gravity break rocks, soils, and sediments into smaller pieces and move them around.
6-8 ESS2.A: Earth materials and systems

Energy flows and matter cycles within and among Earth's systems, including the sun and Earth's interior as primary energy sources. Plate tectonics is one result of these processes.
9-12 ESS2.A: Earth materials and systems

Feedback effects exist within and among Earth's systems.