6th-8th Grade

Dig underneath the snow or top layer of leaves. Take home a bag full of dead leaves and place on a tray. Wait for a time and the small creatures wake up. Come to find out, the leaf pile has lots of life!

Practice drawing a natural object found from beneath your feet on a sheet of paper. If you have access, use magnifying glasses to zoom all the way in and draw the little details. Then on a separate sheet of paper, zoom out and draw the whole object. Play a memory type game with others to see if they can match the zoomed in drawing to its full object. Make sure to draw a frame (square) to draw your objects in (especially the zoom in), without a frame this is much more difficult.

Play a game of exploration and identification. Find a leaf on the ground and see if you can find the “home” tree for the leaf. Along the way, use a tree identification guide to help you identify each leaf. Two possible guides include:

• • • http://leafsnap.com/

    • MSU Extension Tree ID

Background: Much of what happens beneath our feet is super important to the health of the entire ecosystem. Decomposition is nature's way of breaking things down into reusable formats. In this investigation, your challenge is to build a column that allows you to observe, discover, ask questions and learn about decomposition.

Your Challenge: Design and construct a bottle column that allows you to observe decomposition.

To get started, research some possible ideas from sites such as Bottle Biology.

The Challenge: Determine the characteristics and quality of the soil in your backyard. Three simple tests using basic materials will allow you to discover more about the soil that brings things to life in your backyard. The following links provide some information to help get you started:

• • • Three Ways to Determine Your Soil Type

    • Types of Soil

    • Understanding Soil Types and Soil Texture

Your Challenge: Find and Identify tracks or scat in your backyard. If finding tracks is difficult, can you design a safe way to attract animals that would provide you tracks to identify? Here are some helpful resources and ideas:

• • • Look for tracks or footprints in the snow, sand or mud. Try to figure out what made the tracks by looking at the 3 P’s of tracking - print (size), pattern (hopping or walking), and placement (habitat).

    • Can you design a way to capture tracks? Common household materials like cardboard tubes work well when food/seed is placed in them.

    • ODC Scat and Track Guide

    • Hiking Michigan Tracks Guide