Soil Health Buckets

Welcome

Since soil literally and figuratively is the basis of human society, soil study should be part of every student's learning journey. The Soil Health Bucket curriculum will support educators in teaching about soil by providing lesson plans and supplies for sampling soil.

Below is an online teacher guide to the Soil Health Buckets. The Soil Health Bucket material has been supplemented with resources from the Soil Health Primer and GLOBE, an international science and education project sponsored by NASA and NOAA with support from the US Department of State.

South Dakota educators can request a Soil Health Bucket by contacting Cindy Zenk at 605-280-4190 or by emailing cindy.soilhealth@sdconservation.net. Soil Health Buckets are made possible by the USDA NRCS,  with support from Farm Credit Services of America, First Dakota National Bank, Ducks Unlimited Inc., and Dacotah Bank.

Table of Contents

Page Content Overview

• Introduction to Soils: Introductory lessons. Includes material from the Soil Health Primer, the Soil Health Buckets, and GLOBE.

• Soil Health Bucket Tests: The why and how of the soil health tests.

• Extending Soil Learning: Additional lessons for learning about soil.

• Capstone and Research Projects: Assess student learning with a capstone or research project.

• Standards Crosswalk: South Dakota grade 6-12 science teachers cross-walked soil health bucket lessons to the Next Generation Science Standards. Note: both the South Dakota and Next Gen standards are statements of student performance expectation. These lessons should be used as part of a larger sequence of lessons to achieve the performance expectation.

• Phenomena: Phenomena suggested by teachers to spark and guide student learning using the lessons.

• Teacher Created Examples: Activities, lesson plans, ideas, and resources to integrate the Soil Health Buckets into the classroom.

• GLOBE: Become a GLOBE trained teacher and share your soil data with the world.

* Indicates aligned with GLOBE protocols.

Soil Health Bucket Tests - Demonstration Videos

See demonstration videos on how to conduct the soil health bucket tests in the field. YouTube Playlist.

GLOBE (Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment) is an international science and education project that involves students in investigating the Earth's Systems through collecting data using standardized protocols, reporting data using an internationally accessible database, and participating in research projects and field campaigns.

GLOBE is active in 112 countries with over 66,000 teachers participating world wide.

Students who participate in GLOBE:

• collect and report data on local environmental conditions to an internationally accessible data base,

• contribute data to field campaigns coordinated by scientists, and

• do research using data collected from their school's site and sites around the world.

While the GLOBE resources are freely available through the website, only GLOBE trained teachers can enter data into the GLOBE database. The database is a connection to thousands of other students and teachers around the world as well as research scientists. 

GLOBE Training

Educators can become GLOBE trained in two ways:

1. Attend an in person GLOBE training. The SD Discovery Center offers at least one GLOBE training each year.

OR

2. Complete the GLOBE e-training. To complete the GLOBE e-training:

• Set up a teacher account. If you are in South Dakota, be sure the South Dakota Discovery Center is listed as your partner. Note: the partner  is different than your organization/school which is where you work.

• Complete the three online modules with assessments: Intro to GLOBE, Intro to a sphere, and a protocol. See this Summary Document for specifics. 

• Not sure which spheres or protocols to select? We suggest the trainings Introduction to Pedosphere and Soil Characterization.

GLOBE Minigrants

Grants of up to $750 to purchase monitoring supplies and resources will be made available to GLOBE trained educators in South Dakota. By applying for this grant, educators agree to collect and report data within a year of purchase. Complete this mini-grants application.