The Dirty Truth About Soils
In this lesson, students will delve into the world of soil science by collecting their own soil cores and analyzing the cores for water, organic matter, and total carbon content by soil strata. Students will learn how soils link many of Earth’s systems including the biosphere, geosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere and how soils can tell scientists a lot about a location’s natural history and climate.
Taught by: Rebecca Finger Higgens
Objectives
Through this lesson, students will:
Learn about soil forming processes and soil structure.
Learn about permafrost and the Arctic soil environment
Collect their own soil samples/cores
Analyze soil water and organic matter content among various soil strata by calculating mass loss after drying and burning, respectively.
Calculate and model water, organic matter, and carbon content within a soil profile.