Current course
Participants
General
Yr 3-4 Follow the Poo...
Entry Point - What goes in....
1. Following the Poo - Investigating What plants n...
2. Following the Poo - Investigating Soil
Investigating soil
Investigating Soil?
Todays learning: (WALT)
Science
- setting up simple practical enquiries
- gathering, recording, and presenting data in a variety of ways to help in answering questions
- recording findings using simple scientific language, drawings, labelled diagrams,
- reporting on findings from enquiries, including oral and written explanations, displays or presentations of results and conclusions
- recognise that soils are made from rocks and organic matter.
Lesson Activities / Tasks
- Lesson Activities
-
- Watch video - dialog below
- Carry out own soil sample mixing as seen in video this can be done by teacher or ideally as whole class activity.
- Allow sample time to settle - pupils could write out method of investigation while soil settles
- Draw diagram of soil sample
- Measure Layers of soil and produce a pie chart of results
- Complete relevant section of pupil work book
Plenary:
- Do quiz for first section answers…
Video Dialog
- After the pooh is spread in fields the farmer mixes it in to the soil along with any remains of the previous crop often by ploughing
- This material - poo and previous crop plant material is called organic matter which simple means stuff that came from something that was once alive.
- What do you think then happens to this organic matter.
- To answer this you need to know a little bit about soil.
- What is soil made from? Does anything live in soil?
- Lets make mud pies to see what soil is made of.....
- No not the mud pies you made when you played out......
- But 'scientific' mud pies! Oops but not with best kitchen spoons!!!!
- Once the 'mud pie' has settled you get this - the bits or particles of soil have settled into different layers.
- The biggest or heaviest particles sink first so settle on the bottom of the pot.
- These are sand particles.
- The top layer is made up of the smallest particles
- The are clay particles
- The particles in between are called loam
- Then on the top or even still floating are very small pieces of organic matter - dead plant and animal material as we said.
- If we look at some of these soil particles under a microscope this is what we see.
- What does it remind you off?
- Do you think they look like stones or rocks?
- Well that is exactly what they are small pieces which have been broken of rocks by rain, wind, ice, plants growing on them, and lots of other ways.
- This is called erosion and just means breaking down.
- So now we have 1 ingredient of soil - broken or eroded rocks
- How much of the different size particles a soil contains decides what type of soil it is sandy, loamy or clay soil
- Settled on the top layer or floating in the water is the second ingredient of soil- organic matter
- So when he mixes poo with the soil in his fields the farmer is really helping to make more soil
- The organic matter is also broken down in small pieces by the animals, minibeasts and micro-organisms which live in the soil.
- Creatures such as earthworms, centipedes and woodlice.
- This type of breaking down is called decay and it happens to all living things when they die.
- When organic matter decays it releases food or nutrients into the soil which is important for plants - more later
- This process of erosion and decay is a very slow process and take thousands or even millions of years.
- So we must look after the soil we have got as it takes a very long time to make new soil.
- Don't think of soil as 'mud for pies' but more and ingredient of life on earth in which plants grow and animals live.
- So when farmers spread poo on their fields they are adding an important ingredient of 'new' soil and also nutrients.
Resources:
- VIDEO 'Investigating Soil?'
- PUPIL WORKBOOK: 'Following poo...'
Outcomes: (WILF)
- To state that soils is made up of different sized particles and decay organic matter
- To produce diagram and pie chart of soil sample results.
Teaching notes:
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Last modified: Wednesday, 19 February 2014, 7:57 PM