Soil Scientists

Our newest science unit is a hands-on discovery of soil, an incredibly interesting, accessible material that surrounds us in our daily lives, both figuratively and literally. As soon as we began our unit, discussions among students were centered around the idea that soil is important for many reasons. After an impromptu lesson on food chains, we all agreed that without soil, we couldn't survive, even if we aren't vegetarians!

Earlier this week we each constructed our own compost bags from soil and compost materials around our school's perimeter. In the bags we put damp soil, and a handful or 2 of composting leaves, twigs, etc. A few lucky scientists even ended up with some bugs!

After exploring the local soil and compost, we added live earthworms to our bags. We brainstormed a list of predictions regarding what the worms will do in our bags. Unfortunately, earth worms do not transform very much. Students were pretty bummed about that, until they saw their worms burrowing holes in their soil!! 

Next, we experimented with three types of materials: natural clay, sand, and humus (not the snack!). Students used 4 out of their 5 senses to describe each material. They also observed each material being shaken in a test tube, and predicted what would happen after the mixtures settled overnight.