What on Earth is Soil?

Introduction of Webquest- We will be watching a youtube video to show the importance of soil. It is found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TB1i4TUaHxk

Day 1 Explore-You and your partner will be utilizing internet resources to learn more about soil. You will go to the following websites and record your notes in your science journals. 

           http://school.discoveryeducation.com/schooladventures/soil/name_soil.html 
         After you have finished looking at that page, go to this page: 

           http://school.discoveryeducation.com/schooladventures/soil/down_dirty.html 

           http://www.realtrees4kids.org/ninetwelve/soil.htm

Day 2-Explore-You and your partner will watch the PowerPoint found here: http://www.slideshare.net/riverwalk100/skworm?from=share_email 

When you have finished watching the PowerPoint, you need to answer the following questions in your science journals. You must answer these questions on your own. 
What does weather do to the soil?
Name at least 3 colors soil comes in.
How does water stay in the soil?
Where does soil come from?
Name and describe at least 2 horizons of soil.
Share with your partner one or two things you learned from the video that you did not know before.

Day 3-Elaborate: 
Get with your partner and visit this site, http://www.blm.gov/nstc/soil/Kids/texture.html we will go outside and examine the soil.
When you are finished, visit this site, copy the questions down, and answer them in your science journal. http://urbanext.illinois.edu/gpe/case2/c2m1.html 
Discuss your findings with your partner.

Day 4-Elaborate: 
Get with your partner and watch a video on water retention to answer the question- Is there a way to measure how much water each soil type holds? You will pause the video at 1:04 to record your prediction of which soil type holds more water. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TB1i4TUaHxk  
Just for fun, share your prediction with your partner.

Day 5-Explain:
We will be doing an experiment to determine the ability of soils to retain water. Materials and Procedures found on the Process page.  You should be able to answer these questions at the end of this investigation. 

Which soil would you infer would be better for planting a cactus?  Why do you think so? 
What do you think might be some problems with soil that allows too much water to runoff? 

Day 6-Explain:
1.          With your partners, you will be reviewing all the information you have been collecting and will be creating your very own PowerPoint to share with the class. Next week you will be sharing your findings with the class.
2.          I would like you to answer the following questions in your PowerPoint, along with any other important information you�d like to share.
3.          See the Rubric under the Evaluation page to find out what you will be graded on.
4.     The questions I�d like you to include are:

What is soil and how does it form?
What are the three different types of soil?
Name the different layers (horizons) of soil. Briefly describe each layer.
What kind of properties makes soil good in order to support life?
Name several ways people can help improve soil.   
Why is soil so important to plants?