Lab-Aids: Introduction to Soil Kit

In this elementary school kit, students observe several different earth materials with a magnifying lens and describe what they see. Their observations, including metric measurements, are used to help them understand how these materials are classified and identified. Students then apply the skills and understanding developed in the first activity to observe and describe soil samples completely enough to be identified by someone else. These observations and descriptions form the basis for agreeing upon a definition for soil.

 

• 24 1/2 oz. plastic cups
• 12 magnifying lenses
• 12 15-cm metric rulers
• 6 sieves
• 6 samples of granite
• 1 8 oz. bottle of silt
• 1 8 oz. bottle of sand
• 1 8 oz. bottle of gravel
• 1 8 oz. bottle of peat moss
• 1 16 oz. bottle of Soil A
• 1 16 oz. bottle of Soil B
• 1 plastic teaspoon
• 28 Student Worksheet and Guides: How to Measure Length Using a Metric Ruler
• 28 Student Worksheet and Guides: Introduction to Soil
• 1 Teacher's Guide

• Number of Students: 24 (maximum 6 groups)
• To complete this kit requires two to three ~50-minute class periods