(http://esseacourses.strategies.org)
Crops Investigation #5
Goal:
The goal of this activity is to learn about soil distributions by
comparing student-generated soil maps of the county to the official county
soil maps.
Objectives:
Students will be able write a short piece (3-5 paragraphs) that 1) explains
how their soil map is different from the official soil map and 2) explains the
distribution of soils in their county.
Standards Met:
Overview:
Soil distributions are governed by their underlying rocks, the local
topography, and their proximity to streams. Today we will examine local
soil distributions based on both student-generated maps and official county soil
maps.
Materials:
- A county soil survey book that include maps (available from your local
county extension office) for each group.
- Photocopies of student soil maps that were generated in the previous two
activities. Each group should have one complete set of maps (5 maps
total per group).
Resources:
Actions:
Prior to the lesson:
- Students will analyze the chemical characteristics of their soil samples.
- Students will plot the chemical characteristics of their soil sample
on maps of their county.
During the lesson:
- Put students in their project groups.
- Distribute copies of students' maps to each group.
- Lead a discussion about soil types encountered. Who
had coarse soils? Who had fine soils? Who had dark soils? Light
soils? Where are these soils on the maps? This discussion
needs to result in the formulation of a key to the soils found in the
county.
- Have students color-code their soil map to reflect the new
key.
- Discuss the distributions seen on the maps. How
are these soils distributed? What soils are in hilly places?
What soils are in flat places? What soils are near streams? Have
students write notes describing these distributions in their science notebooks.
- Distribute county soil survey books to each group. (If these
are not available, use the web resources.)
- Have students look through the books for 5-10 minutes, depending
on how much instructional time you have.
- Have students turn to the soil map (usually at the back of the
book). Discuss the soil distributions seen on these maps. You may want
to use the same sorts of leading questions given in step 5. Have
students write notes about these distributions in their science
notebooks. Results of this discussion should be that different soils
have different distributions depending upon topography, proximity to
streams, and underlying rock types. You may want to reiterate these
points and introduce specifics through a more formal lecture following the
discussion.
- Have students write a short piece (3-5 paragraphs) that 1) explains how
their soil map is different from the official soil map and 2) explains the
distribution of soils in their county.
Extensions:
- Compare the soil distribution of this county to soil distributions in
the whole state.
Assessment:
Notebooks will be checked for completeness. Complete notebooks will receive
10 points. Incomplete notebooks will be downgraded according to the policies of
individual classrooms. Paragraphs will be scored for both scientific
accuracy and grammar, with more weight given to the scientific accuracy (for
example, 20 points for scientific accuracy and 5 points for grammar).
Reflection:
Please write a reflection after you teach this lesson to help us make improvements. Reflections should be e-mailed to j.okeefe@moreheadstate.edu and c.wymer@moreheadstate.edu. If you also complete student reflections, please include these as well.