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Citizen Science Final

This two-part science lesson teaches students about soil composition and earthworm distribution. In part one, students collect soil samples from home and analyze properties like color, texture and ability to support life. They act as citizen scientists in part two by searching for earthworms daily for a week, documenting findings and collecting new soil samples to compare. Data is sent to a university to map earthworm distribution and species in the Great Lakes region. The lesson aims to teach students about soil differences and earthworm occurrences in various soil types.

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47 views

Citizen Science Final

This two-part science lesson teaches students about soil composition and earthworm distribution. In part one, students collect soil samples from home and analyze properties like color, texture and ability to support life. They act as citizen scientists in part two by searching for earthworms daily for a week, documenting findings and collecting new soil samples to compare. Data is sent to a university to map earthworm distribution and species in the Great Lakes region. The lesson aims to teach students about soil differences and earthworm occurrences in various soil types.

Uploaded by

api-268702735
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Lesson Title: Soil Sampling and Great Lakes Worm Watch

Subject: Science
Grade Level: 2nd-3rd grade
Duration: Part I: One class period
Part II: 30 minutes per day for one week
Objectives:
By the end of the lesson students will be able to identify the materials which make up soil,
including weathered rock and organic matter
By the end of the lesson students will be able to explain how soils differ (in color, texture, water
retention, ability to support life)
By the end of the lesson students will have documented earth worm occurrences and the types
of soil they found earth worms in per the Great Lakes Worm Watch
Materials Needed:
Ziploc bags
Soil from each student's home
Additional sand, silt and clay provided by the teacher
Forceps, one set per student
Magnifying glass, one per student
Paper plates, multiple per student
Procedures:
Anticipatory Set:
Give students plastic Ziploc bags labeled with their names
Instruct students to collect a large sample of soil from their homes or the surrounding area
Explain to students that soil is composed of broken down rock material, minerals, decayed plant
matter and animal matter.
Discuss the ways you can describe soil samples (color, texture, etc)
Main Activity:
Give each student a paper plate, magnifying glass and forceps
Have students pour their soil sample
Allow students to manipulate their soil samples
Have students answer these questions in their Science Journals1) What is the color of the soil? (Dark brown, light brown, reddish-brown, etc.)
2) How does it feel? (Gritty, sandy, smooth, etc.)
3) What kinds of things can be seen in the sample? (Leaves, small twigs, rocks, etc.)
4) What is the texture of the soil? Is it soft, or does the sample have hard clumps in it?
5) Ask the students how they think the soil may have formed. Remind them that soil is a
mixture of organic material such as leaves and twigs that have decomposed, and pieces of
larger rocks that were broken down by the process of weathering.
6) Which kind of soil they think would be best for plant growth.

Explain to students that they will be citizen scientists by participating in a Great Lakes
Earthworm Watch for the University of Minnesota by helping them map earthworm

distribution and species richness


Read the following paragraph from the Great Lakes Worm Watch website to give students a
background on earthworms, Earthworms are not native to the Great Lakes Region; they were
all wiped out after the last glaciation. The current population, brought here by early Europeans,
is slowly changing the face of our native forests, but very little is known about the distributions
of earthworm and earthworm species across the region.
Tell students that they will be responsible for searching for earthworms with their partners
every day for the next week. When they find earthworms, they are to document the
date/time/location in their science journals and collect a soil sample from the location.
Students are to test their soil samples based on the criteria used earlier in the lesson and
compare their data to a list of types of soils given by the teacher
At the end of the week, the data collected will be sent to the University of Minnesota

Standards:
2-PS1-1. Plan and conduct an investigation to describe and classify different kinds of materials
by their observable properties.

2-PS1-2. Analyze data obtained from testing different materials to determine which materials
have the properties that are best suited for an intended purpose.

Great Lakes Worm Watch: http://scistarter.com/project/333-Great%20Lakes%20Worm%20Watch

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