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Life Science Kit Resources Vancouver School District
By observing various properties of soils, you'll help students
begin to understand the diversity of life and environment around
them. With the activities in Soils, you'll encourage your students
to observe and detail This is a very exciting unit for young students because they have a chance to observe, touch, smell and see science in action as they · Interpreting test results and to draw conclusions
about soil compostion. Through their long-term observations, students will learn that certain soils are better for certain plants. By closely examining the varieties of soil locally, students see observable differences within the same neighborhood. Extensive use of Venn diagrams helps students organize their observations and draw conclusions about their soil lessons in general. Essential Lessons: 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12 , 13 In doing each of the essential lessons, all content and performance standards will be met for the Washington State EALR's and Benchmarks. The lessons can be done in clusters or combined grouping. To ease Kit usage the following lessons should be done in the above sequence. The instructional approach to enhance student inquiry and discovery is to combine the lessons in clusters (1-4) , (6, 7,) , (9, 10,) , 11, 12, ) , (13) and then culminate the unit with final project assessment. The grayed lessons should be done if time is available. This will assure that you will be able to accommodate all EALR and WASL requirements. If time is not available the grayed lessons could be eliminated, but this means that you will need to assure that the remaining lessons are done in breadth and depth.
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In Soils, students investigate
the chief components of soil--sand, clay, and humus--and explore
the relationship between soil and plant growth. Early in the
unit, they create their own compost bags. This activity enables
them to observe the decomposition of different kinds of organic
materials over time. Students observe and read about earthworms
to learn about their connection to plant roots and soils. The
students also conduct tests that enable them to observe and compare
such properties of soil as odor, appearance, and texture. Phenomena
such as settling, water content, and soil consistency are also
explored. These are then related to plant growth, as students
plant seeds in a clear plastic tube. By observing root growth,
students learn about the role of roots in keeping the plant anchored
and upright. In this unit, students investigate the similarities
and differences in a variety of common soils. First, they observe,
describe, and compare a collection of soils, focusing on such
properties as color, shape, size, texture, and hardness. They
also perform tests to determine whether water affects the soils
they are observing. Investigations of soils center on how various
soils look and feel, their fluidity, how they mix with water,
and their degree of absorption. In a final lesson, students compare
the properties of soils and identify how they are similar and
different. As a final activity, students can apply what they
have learned to investigate a sample of local garden soil.