Exploring Qualitative Data Collection Through Gardening (Part 2)

Summary:
It is highly recommended that you complete Part 1 of this Lesson first.

In this lesson, students will learn about the different components that make up soil. They will learn about particle sizes and other differences that are used to define clay, silt, sand, and humus. Students will utilize the jars or soil that were made during Part 1 of this assignment and will rotate through stations with a group in order to make observations about the makeup of each type of soil. The observations that they make will be collected in their garden journals or other notebook.

Materials:
Pre-made Mason Jars of Dirt (From Part 1)
Pen/Pencil
Notebook or Paper
Example Slide Deck (provided)

Agenda:
Begin with a review of the four main components that makeup healthy soil: Sand, Silt, Humus, and Clay and predictions about the makeup of soil samples from Part 1 of this lesson (10 minutes)
Have students start at one of four tables with a jar of soil. Have them record where the soil came from, create a sketch of the different layers of soil within the jar, identify each layer, and estimate percentage of each layer (8 minutes)
Rotate to each of the other three stations (~25 minutes)
Clean up (5 minutes)
Total Time: ~45 minutes