Bringing Agriculture Into the Classroom- Soil

Are you a 4-H or FFA student seeking activities to participate in at a local elementary school? Are you a teacher looking to fill a couple of class periods? Or maybe you were invited into your child's classroom for a presentation. 

No matter the reason, we can help! This blog series will feature some great resources that make it easy to bring ag topics to life. 

This week, it is all about soil!

• Start with reading The Soil in Jackie's Garden! If you don't have a copy or can't find it at the library, Inside the Compost Bin is another good read. After reading, discuss with the class what they have learned. 
  • If the students in the class are strong readers, have copies of the My American Farm “Digging Into Soil" e-comic for everyone to read together instead.

• After the class discussion, do the "Surprising Soil" lesson. This activity teaches about different types of soils! For this, you will need 3 different soil samples, newspaper or tablecloths, and enough copies of the Student Worksheet for each student. This lesson guides the volunteer through each step, making it an easy-to-follow activity.
• If you have time, or during another class period, have students complete the "Conservation Scramble" activity, where they use clues to unscramble words that demonstrate how farmers care for their land.

• Round out your class time by introducing students to the My American Farm game, "Thrive." In this game, learners will discover different soil types! "Thrive" can be played for free at myamericanfarm.org or on the My American Farm STEM app.