Lesson Planning

Teaching

• Investigate, discover and classify the different components of soil.
• Gather evidence on how different soils can vary and suggest reasons for this.

Activities

1. Play a guessing game to learn some amazing facts about soil and the role it plays in supporting life (Yr3&4).
2. Closely observe soil with hand lenses and list and classify the constituent parts (Yr3&4).
3. Actively investigate and compare 3 different soils and their properties, recording findings (Yr3&4).
4. With support, draw conclusions on the reasons for variation between soils (Yr3&4).

Investigation - exploring, problem solving, fair testing
The programme makers want to include a section all about soil so you need to become experts. Discover some amazing facts about soil and conduct tests to compare 3 different soil samples.
Year 3 - Conduct a drainers and soakers test to compare 3 different soils.
Year 4 - Conduct a shakeup test to compare different soils.

Vocabulary
Soil, micro-organisms, organic matter, particles, sand, silt, fair test, compare, sort, predict