Soil Investigations

Dirt: 

Dirt Who needs it? By Jane Hendrickson

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Dirt: W ho needs it? Standard 6.0 Environmental Science: Students will use scientific skills and processes to explain the interactions of environmental factors (living and non-living) and analyze their impact from a local to a global perspective. Standard 2.0 Comprehension of informational Text: Select and read to gain information from materials such as books, magazines, cookbooks, and web sites Standard 4.0 Writing: Use note taking and organizational strategies to record and organize information; Participate in teacher-directed note-taking and organization of information

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Lesson Plan

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Student Worksheet: Soil Investigations

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Have you ever dug in the dirt? Have you ever planted a garden? Have you noticed not all dirt looks the same? Dirt: Why do we need it?

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Each type of soil has a different mix of sediments. The sediments affect how water will act in soil. Water sinks right in sand or sandy soil If you plant in sandy soil you will have to water more often .

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Water stays right on clay causing puddles to form. When dry it cracks like clay pots .

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The best soil for plants is a mixture of sand, clay, and other organic matter like twigs and dead leaves.

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Soil : What lives in it? How many critters do you see?

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On of the most important critters found in the soil are earthworms. Earthworms eat organic matter in the soil. To get their food they eat the soil and it comes out the other end as they dig through the earth. By tunneling through the soil earthworms give plant root places to grow, and make space for water and air to get to plant roots.

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So who needs soil? When you eat a banana, a peanut butter sandwich, or even a hamburger, you owe your meal to SOIL! If grass didn’t grow, you would not have the cows to give you milk or hamburgers!

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Bial , R. (2000) A Handful of Dirt. Walker & Company, New York, New York Tomecek , S. (2002) Dirt. Scholastic. New York, New York. Works Cited