The lessons in this Soils Overview Unit provide students with a basic understanding of the fundamentals of soil science through the integration of disciplinary core ideas, science and engineering practices, and crosscutting concepts. The unit includes six sections, each containing learning objectives, background information, student information, selected resources, and ties to the NGSS standards

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Discipline
Earth and Space Sciences
Grade Level
6-8
Lesson Area
Soil Basics
Soil Biology
Soil Chemistry
Soil Conservation
Soils and Climate
Soils in Urban Environments
Lesson Type
Slides/Photos/Figures
Teacher's Guide
Lesson Keywords
Ecosystem
Soil Formation
Soil Basics
Particole Size
Soil Texture
Structure
Color
Profile
soil qulaity
Sustainability
Conservation
Inter-disciplinary

Next Generation Science Standards

Grade Discipline Core Idea
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.
6-8 ESS2.C: The roles of water in Earth's surface processes

Water cycles among land, ocean, and atmosphere, and is propelled by sunlight and gravity. Density variations of sea water drive interconnected ocean currents.  Water movement causes weathering and erosion, changing landscape features.
6-8 ESS2.D: Weather and climate

Complex interactions determine local weather patterns and influence climate, including the role of the ocean.
6-8 ESS3.A: Natural resources

Humans depend on Earth's land, ocean, atmosphere, and biosphere for different resources, many of which are limited or not renewable. Resources are distributed unevenly around the planet as a result of past geologic processes.
6-8 ESS3.B: Natural hazards

Mapping the history of natural hazards in a region and understanding related geological forces.
6-8 ESS3.C: Human impacts on Earth systems

Human activities have altered the biosphere, sometimes damaging it, although changes to environments can have different impacts for different living things. Activities and technologies can be engineered to reduce people's impacts on Earth.
6-8 LS2.A: Interdependent relationships in ecosystems

Organisms and populations are dependent on their environmental interactions both with other living things and with nonliving factors, any of which can limit their growth. Competitive, predatory, and mutually beneficial interactions vary across ecosystems but the patterns are shared.
6-8 LS2.B: Cycles of matter and energy transfer in ecosystems

The atoms that make up the organisms in an ecosystem are cycled repeatedly between the living and nonliving parts of the ecosystem. Food webs model how matter and energy are transferred among producers, consumers, and decomposers as the three groups interact within an ecosystem.
6-8 PS3.D: Energy in chemical processes and everyday life

The fact that matter is composed of atoms and molecules can be used to explain the properties of substances, diversity of materials, states of matter, phase changes, and conservation of matter. 
6-8

Reacting substances rearrange to form different molecules, but the number of atoms is conserved. Some reactions release energy and others absorb energy.
6-8

Sunlight is captured by plants and used in a reaction to produce sugar molecules, which can be reversed by burning those molecules to release energy. 
6-8 LS2.C: Ecosystem dynamics
6-8 PS1.A: Structure of matter (includes PS1.C Nuclear Processes)

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.
6-8 PS1.B: Chemical reactions

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.