Lesson 3 Microscopy:

Vocabulary: eyepiece, lens, arm, base, stage, focus, soil, sand,

silt, clay, humus
Engage:
Review how to use a microscope using microscopy worksheet.
Students will fill in blanks to label (most students have used them
multiple times)
Explore/Extend:
Set up four stations for students to rotate through (sand, silt, clay,
and humus)
Explain
Peer discussion. Compare drawings in booklets to sketches made
by students. Discuss what similarities and differences they
observe now under higher magnification.

Lesson 4. Soil degredation

EQ: What degrades soil?
Explain and Elaborate:
Soil is mostly made of inorganic material (stuff that was never
alive), but there is a very important part of soil called humus that
is made out of stuff that used to be alive. Thats where plants get
many of the nutrients they need to grow.
Go on a fieldtrip to our gardens and then to our field. Students
should look at the type of soil in the garden beds and compare to
that around our field.
Evaluate:
Large group discussion
Why do plants do so well in our garden?
Why is our field so barren?
What happened to the soil in our field?
How has wind and weather changed the environment?
Why has this not happened in our garden beds?

In our location it is unfortunately obvious based on the recent

construction and clear cutting

3rd grade Lesson 5. What are fossils and how are they made?
Vocabulary: Sediment, minerals, mold, cast, sand, silt, clay,
organic, inorganic, time

EQ: How are fossils made?

Materials: sand for 6 trays, trays, plaster, plastic dinosaurs,
water, measuring cups, stirrers

Explore:
Students make impressions (molds) in the sand using the
dinosaurs. Next they mix plaster and water, then pour the mixture
into the mold to make a cast. While waiting for them to set

Elaborate
Sediment (sand, silt and soil) are formed by erosion.
Under just the right circumstances some creatures can become
fossilized within this sediment.
Here we used sand and plaster to recreate these circumstances
and make our own fossils (under a much quicker timescale)

Evaluate:
While fossil models are drying, students will answer fossilization
vocabulary questions on a sheet which will be turned in for an
assessment grade
Draw a line between the vocabulary word and the definition that
best identifies the meaning.
Sediment

Never having lived

Mineral

Sediment particles smaller than

sand but larger than clay

Mold

Pure particles of matter which

form rocks when combined

Cast

Largest mineral particles in soil

Sand

Living, or once living

Clay

Eroded particles of rocks and

minerals

Organic

Impression made (in sediment)

Inorganic

Something made in the shape

of a mold

Silt

Smallest mineral particles in soil

5th grade Lesson 5. How can we protect from soil erosion?

EQ: How can we protect from soil erosion?
Vocabulary: Constructive, destructive, weathering,
erosion, technology...
Materials: paper, pencils, plastic tubs, sand, fan, hair
dryer, straws, wire-ties, popsicle sticks...
Engage/Explore:
Students will need to protect a sandy hill from wind
erosion. Are you up for the challenge?
Procedures:
Pile sand up toward the middle of each tray, students
should then measure the depth of the sand. (this is
before) Record the depth on a sheet of paper and label it
before.
Students may use various materials (straws, wire-ties,
popsicle sticks...) to build a plantlike barrier to minimize
wind erosion on their hill. Student teams of 4 will have
10-minutes to build there structure which will be tested
first by a strong wind (fan) blowing for 1-minute.
Evaluate:
Afterward the sand depth should be checked and the
sand depth loss calculated. After this comes the
hurricane! (hair dryer on high for 30-seconds) Again
students will record their remaining sand depth.

Designs and outcomes will be compared. Future designs

can also be discussed for opportunities to retry this
activity in the future.