This activity is a guided inquiry investigation where students gather data on which soil is the best for growing plants. Student will interpret their data, and develop a conclusion from the data. The student will determine which type of soil they would like to use in the next activity of making their own terrariums. The data collected could lead to further questions, which can be investigated in some extension activities.

This resource supports English language development for English language learners. Students help Detective LePlant to solve the mystery of soil: find out what soil is, why it is important, what types of living organisms can be found in and around soil, and in what kinds of soil plants grow. A window opens to define vocabulary words in English with an option in Spanish. The case has a case brief, facts, a quiz, and activities such as classifying the components of soil. This lesson is available in Spanish, also.

In this short video and accompanying activity and readings, students learn about Longleaf Pine Ecosystems by exploring Weymouth Woods Sandhills Nature Preserve in North Carolina.

This lesson introduces students to the natural resources that help plants grow. Students will work in small groups to explore natural resource items and discuss their importance to humans. The teacher then shares with students a booklet about the natural environment, which provides information via a series of concept maps and allows recording of students' experiences and thoughts through both writing and drawing. Students will also read, discuss, and illustrate booklets about seeds and plants.

I bribed my family with brownies to participate in an educational game night! In this video, we play a farm-themed word association game called Expression Connections taken from the Food, Land, and People curriculum. Try it out with your own family or classroom, and discover how many connections exist between you and the food that you eat!

Correlations to NC Essential Standards: Depends on how the lesson is adapted, but there is a lot of flexibility in this activity to be adapted to many standards in Science, Language Arts, and Social Studies.

Students will place a peat pot in water to observe and calculate the rate of capillarity in a model of a soil. This task assesses students' abilities to make simple observations; collect, record, and represent data; use a data table to represent data; apply mathematics to solve for an unknown; use a graph to represent data; and draw conclusions from experiments.

This resource is a compilation of text, videos, and other elements to create a scaffolded 5E learning experience for students. In this lesson, students explore how the basic properties and components of soil support the growth and survival of plants.

Students will determine which of several soil samples are most permeable. This task assesses students' abilities to make simple observations, collect, organize, and represent data, make conclusions from that data, and generalize about scientific concepts.

In this lesson, students will investigate the differences between three to five types of soil, will understand how particle size affects water movement and use, will explain how soil use can be improved through use of rain gardens, will describe community benefits of rain gardens.

This course was created by the Rethink Education Content Development Team. This course is aligned to the NC Standards for 3rd Grade Science. 

This course was created by the Rethink Education Content Development Team. This course is aligned to the NC Standards for 3rd Grade Science.

In this virtual resource, students will explore soil texture on their school ground, and demonstrate the connection between texture and plant growth through a kinesthetic activity.

The wakelet site features videos demonstrating hands-on activities for students to complete at school in small, socially-distanced settings. Activities may also be adapted for at-home learning. Some activities incorporate an outdoor component, acknowledging the need to balance screen time with green time to support mental health. Tips for taking your students outside can be found here: https://education.eol.org/cnc_materials/TipsForTeachingOutside.pdf

In this three-month project, students investigate the best conditions for growing plants. Students create a problem statement, develop a study plan, test their ideas and use construction technology and computer technology as tools for research, planning, recording data and communicating.

Students will test different types of soil to determine which is best for growing plants.

In this hands-on activity students sort a soil sample. They will observe the basic components of soil and relate the components to plant growth.

In this activity students will create a soil profile and examine soil texture and water holding capacity.

The activities in Underground Adventure guide students through an outdoor field study of soil life and some of the variables that affect soil biodiversity. Through these activities, students will gain experience in scientific skills such as hypothesis, observation, and inference. When done together as a unit of study, the activities are designed to help students answer this research question: What is the relationship between the soil's physical properties, environmental and human factors, and soil biodiversity?

Healthy soil is the foundation of a healthy ecosystem, and is inextricably linked to the biota found beneath the surface. This activity demonstrates an easy way to discover life within the soil.

Students demonstrate how substances are dissolved and transported by water through the soil.