Our Science topic this term is Air, Soil, and Water. We are going to start by learning all about soil. First we brainstormed what we already knew and then we looked at some of the different materials that you might find in soil. Then we tried to make some soil of our own. We added sand, gravel, pebbles, and humus.
Here is a picture of what our soil looked like once we added all the different materials:
Once our soil was made we tried to separate the soil back into the different parts. We used different sized screens to sift the soil. Some of the parts were easy to separate, but we noticed that the humus was in all of the containers.
Next we tried to separate our soil using water. We added a sample of the soil to a plastic vial and filled it with water. Then we shook the vials and left them over night. Look what we saw the next morning!
Next it was time to go and collect soil samples from around the school to investigate. We couldn’t believe how many different types of soil we were able to find. The soil samples were all different colours, and they all felt and looked very different from each other.
We’ve also been reading some very interesting books about soil. Here are a few of the facts we’ve learned:
Jacob-When it starts raining the worms come up out of their holes to breathe.
Brooklynn-When the trees fall down or get cut down the soil gets all loose and the soil erodes. The soil can wash down hills and wreck stuff.
Linden-Decomposers eat all sorts of stuff that goes into the soil and the plants get what they poop out.
Lily-Without soil earth would not be the same.
Lainey-The water is good for plants.
Jorja-In clay you need a microscope to see the grains because they are so small.
Kezra-Some dirt is really hard because burrowing animals don’t burrow in it.
Teagan-Animals poop and then it helps the plants.
May-Worms don’t like it when water goes in their holes.
Solomon-Different rocks make different types of sand.
This week we are going to study the soil samples we collected and compare them to the soil we made.
Dear class,
I loved getting to separate the soil. Did you? I’m excited what were going to do next.
Your buddy,
Bronwen
Dear Brownwen
Thanks for the wonderful comment.
I was with solomon when we separated the soil.
Who where you with?
I want to make our own soil out of mud and other stuff.
your buddy Jacob
Dear Mrs. Watson’s class,
What an intriguing investigation! I love the idea of trying to make your own soil and then see if you can sort it out again. Such a challenge! I think our classes would love to use different sized screens for sifting. It reminds me of playing at the beach with my girls in the summer time. It looks like the water test gave you some interesting results too.
You have inspired me. My wheels are spinning now to see if I could make the time to go outside with one of my classes tomorrow. If we are able to, we will definitely follow up with you and let you know what we find.
Right now, our second graders are learning about the parts of plants and how they grow. Here’s a link to a song and its words that we wrote with second graders last year. http://edublogs.misd.net/techiekids/2012/05/01/the-plant-song/ This year’s second grade classes are using Skitch to label pictures of flowering plants. Have you used Skitch before? We will be posting our “marked up” flower photos soon.
Your friend in Michigan,
Mrs. Moore
Techie Kids
Dear Class,
I think it was fun going around collecting soil. Did you have fun collecting soil?
your friend Merissa
Dear Mrs. Watson and class,
Your soil investigation techniques are wonderful and I see you have discovered soil isn’t as simple as it might seem. Your post prompted me to look through my photo library so I could share some with you as I considered rocks, minerals and soils. Here is a link to a simple soil post I made for you if you would like to see…
http://rossmannellcomments.edublogs.org/2013/05/11/investigating-soils-a-mrs-watson-and-class-science-study/
Keep up the studies and sharing what you do. I find this post VERY interesting. 🙂
Ross Mannell
Teacher (retired), N.S.W., Australia
Dear Mrs. Watson and the k/1/2/3 class,
Cool! It looks really fun. We have never done anything like that this year. Today we are going to have a water gun fight at school because it is the last day of my school year! I hope that you had lots of fun.
Your old friend,
Oceana