In this activity, you will read the book "Diary of a Worm" and then your students will create their own diary.
Students pretend they are agricultural engineers during the colonial period and design a miniature plow that cuts through a "field" of soil. They are introduced to the engineering design process and learn of several famous historical figures who contributed to plow design.
Students learn how the process of soil solarization is used to pasteurize agricultural fields before planting crops. Soil solarization is a pest control technique in agriculture that uses the sun’s radiation to heat the soil and eliminate unwanted pests that could harm the crops. The approach is compared to other pest control methods such as fumigation and herbicide application, highlighting the respective benefits and drawbacks. In preparation for the associated hands-on activity on soil biosolarization, students learn how changing the variables involved in the solarizing process (such as the tarp material, soil water content and addition of organic matter) impacts the technique’s effectiveness. A PowerPoint® presentation and pre/post-quiz is provided.
Students design and conduct experiments to determine what environmental factors favor decomposition by soil microbes. They use chunks of carrots for the materials to be decomposed, and their experiments are carried out in plastic bags filled with dirt. Every few days students remove the carrots from the dirt and weigh them. Depending on the experimental conditions, after a few weeks most of the carrots will have decomposed completely.
How human activities cause soil erosion.
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This study guide summarizes key points about the causes of soil erosion. Includes a few questions to check for understanding.
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This study guide summarizes key points about the characteristics of soil, factors in soil formation, and soil horizons and profiles. Includes a few questions to check for understanding.
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Describes different types of soil.
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This study guide summarizes key points about the major types of soli. Includes a few questions to check for understanding.
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This digital textbook covers core earth science concepts and includes interactive features, real-world examples, videos, and study guides.
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Explore soil and how soil types vary when found in different landscapes on Earth's surface in this video (2:19) created by NASA eClips and WGBH. Use the video to observe soils found in different landscape environments and describe why this natural resource is essential to life on Earth.
This field investigation allows students to collect and observe earthworms using liquid extraction to help develop background knowledge at the start of a new earthworm unit.
Ecosystems are composed of all interacting organisms (biota) along with their physical and chemical environments. Physical aspects of an ecosystem, called abiotic components, include variables related to temperature, sunlight, soil, and other factors. [33:28]
Students learn about water erosion through an experimental process in which small-scale buildings are placed along a simulated riverbank to experience a range of flooding conditions. They learn how soil conditions are important to the stability or failure of civil engineering projects and how a river's turns and bends (curvature, sinuosity) make a difference in the likelihood of erosion. They make model buildings either with a 3D printer or with LEGO® pieces and then see how their designs and riverbank placements are impacted by slow (laminar) and fast (turbulent) water flow over the soil. Students make predictions, observations and conclusions about the stability of their model houses, and develop ideas for how to mitigate damage in civil engineering projects.
Students learn about fossils what they are, how they are formed, and why scientists and engineers care about them.
How is farming a system? What are the inputs (fertilizer, pesticide, seed) and outputs (crop yield, emissions, runoff)? What impact does soil as a storage have on the consequences of these inputs and outputs?
Systems thinking, applied in business and environmental science, examines the interconnected parts of a whole, categorized as inputs (external additions), outputs (productions), storages (reserves for future use), and flows (movement of matter and energy). In agriculture, inputs like seeds, fertilizers, and water interact within the soil system, influencing crop production. Soil composition—sand, silt, clay—along with nutrient levels (Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium) and pH, affects plant growth. Mismanagement, particularly over-fertilization, can lead to cultural eutrophication, creating "dead zones" in water bodies by depleting oxygen, crucial for aquatic life.
This learning module includes 9 lessons and/or activities.
To understand how fossils are formed, students model the process of fossilization by making fossils using small toy figures and melted chocolate. They extend their knowledge to the many ways that engineers aid in the study of fossils, including the development of tools and technologies for determining the physical and chemical properties of fossilized organisms, and how those properties tell a story of our changing world.
Students explore the effects of regional geology on bridge foundation, including the variety of soil conditions found beneath foundations. They learn about shallow and deep foundations, as well as the concepts of bearing pressure and settlement.
This unit helps meet some of the AFNR curriculum standards for natural resources. Students will learn how to test texture and other physical characteristics of soil, conduct water quality tests, engineer a water filter, identify air quality parameters, and research careers in natural resources. This unit features 3 lessons and 8 files. Lessons are aligned to NGSS.
Make biochar, a soil amendment, by making and using a model top light updraft (TLUD) pyrolysis kiln or oven. This unit features 1 lesson and 1 file. Lessons are aligned to NGSS.