Higher:
Middle:
Describe how soil is made using complex sentences.
Lower:
Describe how soil is made using simple sentences.
Higher:
Middle:
Describe the different features of different soils.
Lower:
Group similar soils.
Higher:
Middle:
Lower:
Show the starter slide and ask the children to describe the soil in the picture. Ask them what they think it would feel like. For this starter, you could bring some soil in and ask children to pass it round and feel it. What adjectives can they come up with to describe the feeling of the soil?
Explore the presentation about different types of soil and what different soils are good and useful for.
Give the Handout to the children, so they can begin making notes or writing sentences about different soil types.
Today's Song - ask the children to make up actions to the song.
Talk Partners - children have been shown different types of soil. Give them a soil to look at or think about. Children to imagine they are a worm - can they describe what it is like to wriggle through different soil types?
In this part of the lesson, the children share what they have learnt in the last exercise and in the presentation. Introduce a teacher-led Q&A session in which the teacher can add information from Teacher Mastery and answer questions the children may have.
Answer questions and take part in activities during the presentation.
Stop the presentation at the relevant slides: Talk Partners; AfLs; Songs.
Take part in the Choral Response Questions activity (see Assessment section) after the Keywords/Rocket Words slide.
Lyric sheet
Presentation
Sticky notes
In today's film, Mike and Paul explain how soil is made.
Soil Types Experiment
Watch the Mission Assignment film for more help with this task.
Encourage the children to touch and squeeze the soil. Next, the children can test how well the soils hold water. They will need measuring jugs and filter paper. Ask them to place the filter paper in the top of the funnel and then fill it to the brim with soil. They should then pour a small amount of water (15ml) onto the soil, leave it for a few minutes, and then measure how much water goes through into the jug below.
Children can record their information in a table on an Investigation Sheet (see Documents).
Mission to Write! Soil Descriptions
Children are to use information learnt in the presentation and lesson, and use the word bank in Handout - Mission to Write! Soil Descriptions to help them write descriptions of four key soil types. They could write about the feel, the texture, the uses of the soils. On the second page of the Handout, children are challenged to compare two of the soils using a Venn diagram, and then to use the connectives given to write a comparative paragraph.
Encourage children to use the key words and to check spelling, punctuation and grammar.
Soil Types Experiment
Three or four dry soil samples of sandy soil, peaty soil, clay soil, and chalky soil.
Water
Hand washing facilities
Ruler
Filter
Instruction sheet for soil texture test
Wipe down surface
Investigation Sheet
Handout - Mission to Write! Soil Descriptions
Quiz
With their talk partners, the children are to go through the quiz at the end of the presentation and answer the questions.
Formative Assessment Forms
Students are to complete these forms where present.
Assessment Trays
Ask the children to place their Handouts, notebooks, Formative Assessment Forms, Investigation Sheets, into either the Discovery (green) tray or Explorer tray (red)* Explain that the green tray means that the learner has understood the lesson well, and that the red tray means that the learner needs more time to practise.
* use whichever colours of tray you have in stock, or prefer to use for this.
Children can take an interactive assessment quiz to test lesson comprehension. This can be found in the pupil area on the website.
What would be the ideal type of soil? What properties would such a soil have? Why do you think this?
A light coloured, dry and rocky soil which does not hold water well is called?...chalky soil.
The Science Behind the Science
Soil is a mixture of organic matter and inorganic matter that is found on the surface of the Earth. It isn’t something that we usually think about and we are often surprised at the complexity of it. Soil itself can vary in its structure and composition and is vital to the sustainability of an ecosystem because it is the natural medium for growth of vegetation. The inorganic material within the soil isn’t living and includes minerals and weathered rocks. Did you know that weathering is the process in which rocks are broken down into smaller pieces? Once this process is complete, these smaller pieces of rock then mix with organic materials (those of living organisms) to then release nutrients for growth.
There are three different types of soil. Sand is one type that is made from small particles of rock that have undergone the weathering process. The sand itself is loose so that water can easily drain through it, making it excellent for drainage. It is also coarse. Sand isn’t good for growing plants because it cannot hold water or the nutrients that plants need.
Silt is another type of soil and it can be thought of as fine sand. It holds water a lot better than sand does, and is mainly composed of medium-sized particles. This type of soil holds more moisture than sandy soil, and often feels slick and smooth once water has been added to it.
Clay soil has over 25% clay in it and is fine-grained. The particles in clay soil are even smaller than those in silt, so there is even less space between the grains for both air and water to circulate effectively. This soil type is also known as heavy soil as it does not drain well or provide enough space for roots to grow. Clay holds most water in comparison to the other soils. However, when moisture is added to clay, it is very easily moulded into different shapes and sizes. Clay soil bakes in the Summer and often cracks due to its hardness.
Although there are three main types of soil, most soils are made from a combination of the three. For example, loam is a combination of sand, silt and clay. Its properties will vary depending on how much of each substance is present within it. For example, you may get sandy loam, silt loam, clay loam, sandy clay loam, silty clay loam, and loam. This type of soil usually contains a lot more nutrients and moisture which is necessary for better drainage and infiltration of water and air. Loam soil is suitable for growing pretty much all plant varieties.
Mission Assignment Information
The sand should have the lowest water holding capacity, the clay should have the highest water holding capacity. The loam should be somewhere in the middle with a darker colour than both the clay and the sand. This indicates that this type of soil contains a lot of nutrients.
Recognise that soils are made from rocks and organic material.
Materials - Earth's materials - Through evaluation of a range of data, I can describe the formation, characteristics and uses of soils, minerals and basic types of rocks. SCN 3-17a
The study of planet Earth and its position in the universe, particularly its relationship with the Sun; the natural phenomena and systems that shape the planet and the distinctive features that identify it.
Grouping and classifying.
Using straightforward and scientific evidence to answer questions, or to support their findings.
Grade 3 & 5 - Rocks and Soil.
Grade 1 - Earth Science - Our Earth - Earth's Resources - Why is soil important? Grade 2 - Earth Science - Our Earth - Earth's Resources - Soil - What is Soil? / How is soil formed? / What is soil? (living things in soil, how soil forms).
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