Soil surveys help us understand how soils differ and how they behave under various land management systems. In this activity, students will use the NRCS Soil Mapping Tool to determine what soil is around your school and how it can be used.
In this activity, students will build a web out of yarn that connects everyday objects to the soil, learning that soils support many important products and services.
In this activity, students will see a demonstration of just how little of the earth can actually be used for food production and will discuss how important it is to care for our soil resources. You will use an apple (or some other sliceable sphere) to represent the earth, and cut portions off to show the proportion of the earth that is arable land. Discussion questions focus on ways we lose soil and what soil is worth.
Learning activities help students explore and describe soil, consider what is found in soil such as rocks, roots, critters, and organic material, and explain the importance of soil to plants and animals.
Students will identify the invertebrates present in healthy soil, understand the role that each play, and begin to understand the interactions between each.
Students will understand that soil provides anchorage for roots, holds water and nutrients, is home to micro and macroorganisms, filters water, stores carbon, and is a foundation for humans to build and produce food.
