Exercise- Explore A PLT Activity
Soil Stories Instructions
Project Learning Tree
Online Workshop
Pat 1. Introduction
1) First, take a moment to think about what you know about soil. Do you know what the soil is like
where you live? Do you think soil is important? Why is it important to know about it? Have you
noticed certain plants do better in your yard than others? Perhaps you have a good deal of experience
from framing to working in your yard so you know about why plants get from soil. Maybe you’ve
never been successful with gardening and you wonder if soil has something to do with it. Can you
think of other situations when soil is important?
2) Now that you’ve recognized some of your existing thoughts and knowledge about soil, take a look at
the Soil Stories Student page posted next in the soil stories exercise section. The next steps of this
assignment will guide you through a modified version of the “Doing the Activity” instructions. The
Background information in the activity provides a useful overview of concepts you would need to
know to conduct the activity with youth. To learn more you can also visit http://soils.usda.gov/ look
for the Teachers and Students page to find helpful information.
Part 2. Prepare
This activity has two main parts that will help you explore the properties of soil in your own yard. Part A
requires you to let jars filled with soil and water sit for at least a few hours so you may want to get this
ready first and move on to Part B while you wait for the contents of the jars to settle. You can finish Part
A afterward or another day. After reading through the activity, you will need the following supplies to
conduct your own soil investigation and explore clues to help you solve the soil mystery.
To complete this activity you will need:
Part A
2 small plastic bags, labeled 1 and 2
A trowel or shovel
Sheet of white paper or paper plate
Toothpick and Hand lens (optional)
4 cups of water
2 jars or bottles with lids (an old pickle jar, or even a Gatorade bottle with the label
removed would work perfectly)
Part B
A food can (for example beans or soup) with both ends removed
A nail
2 cups of water
Watch with second hand or a time
You may need a flat piece of wood that covers the top of the can and a hammer
Part A- Recipe for Soil Introduction
1) To begin your soil investigation you’ll need to collect two soil samples. Take your shovel or
trowel and plastic bags outside. Try to collect about ½ cup of soil from two different sites.
Possible sites might be low or wet spots, baseball fields, gardens, overgrown fields, lawns, or
under trees.
2)
Come back inside and empty your samples onto paper plates or paper. Examine each sample
with the toothpick and hand lens if you have one. Try to sort of the different size particles.
Answer questions 1 and 2 on the Soil Stories Student Investigation page.
Exercise- Explore A PLT Activity
Soil Stories Instructions
Project Learning Tree
Online Workshop
3) Next you’ll make a soil shake. Place each of your samples into a jar with 2 cups of water. What
do you will happen if you shake the jar up and let it settle? Write your predictions in question 3
of the Soil Stories Student Investigation page.
4) Make sure the lids are tight and then shake each jar for a few minutes. Allow the soil in your
jars to settle for at least 2 hours. While your jar is settling, move on to Part B.
Part B- Soil Mystery
1) Read the Soil Mystery story.
Two weeks ago, Leticia and Sam received a phone call from a lawyer who told them that Sam’s
grandfather who had recently passed away, had willed a piece of land to them. They now own the
property and could do with it whatever they wished.
It didn’t take long for Sam and Leticia to decide what to do with the land. They had often
dreamed of building their own small house. They were both good carpenters and were sure that with
some boards and bricks and a lot of work, they could make a fine house for themselves.
When Sam and Leticia went to visit their new property, it seemed as if their dream would come
true. They started right away by filling the proper building permits and learned that they would have to
have a percolation (perk) test of the site’s soil.
When they received the test results, their hearts sank. The soil on the property had failed the
perk test, and they would not be able to build their dream house. Why not? What was wrong with the
soil?
2) Why do you think Leticia and Sam were not able to build? Have you ever encountered a similar
situation?
Can you suggest a solution to their problem?
3) Now you will conduct two perk tests of your own. Go outside with the materials needed for Part
B and choose two sites in different conditions. You may choose sites near where you collected
soil samples or different sites. Follow the Team Instructions on Soil Stories Student Investigation
page. Make sure to record a description of each site and the results.
4) Think about your results. Did the sites take similar or different amount of time for the water to
disappear? Why do think this happened? Consider the questions on number 4 of the Soil Stories
Student Investigation page.
Part A Recipe for Soil Conclusion
Once your jars have settled look closely at what has happened. You should be able to observe some
layers. Think back to when you sorted particles sizes while inspecting your sample. Did the samples have
different size particles or were there mostly all large or small? The largest particles will settle first and be
at the bottom of your jar. Looking at the Common Soil Textures box on page 297 of the activity, what
kind of soil do you think you have?
Part 4. Conclusion
As you might have guessed, unless you sampled from a garden, most of your sample was probably
composed of sand, but there are still some fascinating things you can discover in your own backyard. As
explained in Module 1, PLT activities incorporate the idea of placed based education, which aims to
build understanding of concepts in the context of familiar settings which will then serve as foundation to
Exercise- Explore A PLT Activity
Soil Stories Instructions
Project Learning Tree
Online Workshop
apply those concepts to other places and to consider the bigger picture. How do you think soil in your
samples compares to soil out West or from a tropical rainforest? Why do you think they are different?
To finish this assignment, complete the Planet Diversity worksheet.
Did you know? Not all of the soil in Florida is sandy. Soil is formed from weathered rock, volcanic ash
deposits, or accumulated plant residues. Soil in the northern Everglades is actually peat formed from
slowly decaying organic matter such as plants and bacteria. Loamy soils can be found in the Panhandle
where fragments of rock transported by northern rivers deposited clay-sized sediments. There is much
more to learn about soil than particle size. PH, bacterial and fungal ecology, and other chemical and
physical properties all influence soil type and life it sustains. You can learn about your soil by submitting
a soil sample to the University of Florida/IFAS Extension Soil Testing Laboratory, learn more at their
website, http://soilslab.ifas.ufl.edu