Soil, It's Not Just Dirt!

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  Clear containers to plant in. (You don't have to use clear, but this way you can see the roots.)


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  Fast growing seeds


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  Nutrient rich potting soil


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  Aquarium rocks


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  Water


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  Computers with headsets to view the websites.

Acommodations/ Modifications:

Teacher can place students in small groups to acommodate for children who made need additional assistance or leave students to complete the project individually. Per teacher discretion, students can complete rubric per group or individually.

5E Lesson Plan:

Students will follow webquest in a 5E format.

The engaging stage (found in the Introduction tab) will be to watch a Bill Nye, The Science Guy video clip on soil.
The explore stage (found in the Process tab) begins the investigation of comparing the plants planted in different soil matter to include: nutrient-rich potting soil and pea-sized aquarium gravel.
The explain stage (found in the Process tab) will direct the student to a website where to learn the difference between dirt and soil. A word web activity is included in this stage.
The elaborate stage (found in the Process tab) includes an activity called "Soil Safari." Students will do the activity and answer questions from the process page.
The evaluation stage of the lesson is a story about being on another planet that is not taking care of itself. The students will try to solve the problems of the planet so that it can survive. Additional time can be provided for those students who may need it. 

A rubric can be found under the Evaluation tab. All websites from the webquest lesson is found below under resources of this tab.  

Background information:

Soil is filled with life. Living things make a home in soil. Life actually makes the soil as we know it. The dirt is sediment resulting from the soil.  

What is necessary to make soil? Bedrock is; it is the parent material that is present in soil. Whether it is from lava, granite or limestone, broken down it is the base of the soil. The physical weathering of the base is the next required step for the process in making soil. This can be wind or water physically breaking down the bedrock. Next, chemical processing. Water over limestone can produce an acidic formula. Although this is a slow process. Biological factors is the last essential ingredient for the soil to take process. This can include decaying plants or living things, such as, fungi or bacteria. Earthworms and other animals present in the mixture also helps to mix everything up.    

Why didn't the plants in the rocks produce in the same manner? When watering the seeds, a simple version of erosion takes place. As a result, the seeds do not recieve the correct amount of watering or filtering. Also, the roots are not able take root in the rocks like they are able to in the soil.


These are the websites that are included in the student page:

http://school.discoveryeducation.com/schooladventures/soil/down_dirty.html Retrieved 03/29/2010.

 http://school.discoveryeducation.com/schooladventures/soil/soil_safari.html Retrieved 03/29/2010.

http://www.childrenoftheearth.org/soil-facts-for-kids/soil-facts-for-kids-01.htm Retrieved 04/11/2010.

http://www.clarkswcd.org/Kids/KidsHome.htm#soil Retrieved 04/11/2010.

These are additional websites that may of use during the unit:

https://www.soils.org/smithsonian/children Retrieved 04/11/2010.

http://soil.gsfc.nasa.gov/ Retrieved 04/11/2010.

Below you can view the videos included in the student section of the Webquest.