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.
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.
Lesson 1*
Components and Physical Properties of Soil
Learn about aggregates and other properties of soil.
Soil Health Primer - Soil Basics
UNL Cropwatch Powerpoint
Lesson 2
Soil Organic Matter
A key component of healthy soil is organic matter.
Soil Health Primer - Transforming Organic Matter
UNL Cropwatch Powerpoint
NRCS Guides for Educators Soil Organic Matter
Lesson 3*
Using Soil Textural Triangle
Understand soil texture.
Soil Health Primer - Soil Basics (slide 19)
Soil Health Primer - Soil Air and Water
GLOBE Soil Characterization Profile Protocol (pp 6-7, 10)
Lesson 4
Soil Moisture by Feel and Appearance
Learn how to estimate soil moisture by feel and appearance & understand its relevance to irrigation water management.
Lesson 5
Soil Health Measurement
Protocols to collect samples for soil quality tests and characterize the site slope and topography.
NRCS Guides for Educators Soil Quality
UNL Cropwatch Powerpoint
Soil Sampling How To Video (YouTube)
Lesson 6*
Soil Bulk Density
Understand and measure soil bulk density, a measure of soil compaction.
Soil Health Primer - Common Soil Problems
NRCS Guides for Educators Bulk Density
UNL Cropwatch Powerpoint
Soil Bulk Density Overview video (YouTube)
GLOBE Bulk Density protocol
Lesson 7
Soil Biology Respiration
Learn about and measure the production of CO2 from soil biology.
NRCS Guides for Educators Soil Respiration
UNL Cropwatch Powerpoint
Soil Respiration Overview video (YouTube)
Lesson 8
Soil Electrical Conductivity
Learn about what soil electrical conductivity is and how to measure it.
NRCS Guides for Educators Soil Electrical Conductivity
UNL Cropwatch Powerpoint
Lesson 10
Soil pH: What Affects it, What it Affects, Managing it and Testing it
Learn about soil pH.
NRCS Guides for Educators Soil pH
UNL Cropwatch Powerpoint
Soil pH Overview video (YouTube)
Lesson 11*
Soil Nitrogen
Explore soil nitrogen, nitrogen management, and how to measure it.
NRCS Guides for Educators Soil Nitrogen
UNL Cropwatch Powerpoint
Soil Nitrogen Overview video (YouTube)
Lesson 12*
Soil Phosphorus
Learn about soil phosphorus and its management.
NRCS Guides for Educators Soil Phosphorus
UNL Cropwatch Powerpoint
Soil Phosphorus Overview video (YouTube)
Lesson 13*
Soil Infiltration
Understand the ability of water to move into and through the soil profile.
NRCS Guides for Educators Soil Infiltration
UNL Cropwatch Powerpoint
Soil Infiltration Overview video (YouTube)
* Indicates aligned with GLOBE protocols.
See demonstration videos on how to conduct the soil health bucket tests in the field. YouTube Playlist.
Lesson 9
Web Soil Survey
Learn how to use the web soil survey, a tool used in farm and community planning.
Lesson 16
Rainfall Simulator
Student reflection resources to accompany an in-person or video rainfall simulator demonstration.
Lesson 17
Soil Microbiology - "Tighty Whities" Test
Observe the impact of soil biology on... undies!
Lesson 18
Soil Aggregates: Role in soil health and measuring stability
Build a model of soil mycorrhizae and observe soil aggregate stability.
Lesson 19
"Edible Infiltration" Healthy Soil Activity
Model soil infiltration with cereal and milk.
Soil Health Assessment Scorecard
Scorecard to evaluate aspects of soil health.
Know Soils, Know Life
Educators Guide
A comprehensive, NGSS aligned soil curriculum for high school students.
Contact NRCS South Dakota
The NRCS South Dakota can bring demonstrations such as the rainfall simulator or slake test to your campus.
Assess student learning by having them do research on a soil health topic.
Soil Science Capstone Activity
Learn more about the scientific method and review a science research project.
GLOBE Student Research Opportunities
Involve your students in the GLOBE International Virtual Science Symposia or the Student Research Symposia (US only). Links to teacher resources for supporting your students in research.
Curriculum standards are established by each state's department of education to provide guidance to classroom teachers on the content that should be covered in each grade and class. These standards shape much of what is taught in schools. To make the soil health bucket lesson plans useful to more teachers, the South Dakota Discovery Center through a grant from the USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service South Dakota facilitated the development of a crosswalk of soil health bucket lessons to the Next Generation Science Standards.
South Dakota and many other states use the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) to inform their state standards. The decision was made to cross walk the Soil Health Bucket lessons to the NGSS rather than state standards to make the soil health bucket alignment as useful to as many teachers as possible. Educators should be aware that the NGSS and South Dakota Science Standards are expectations of student performance and the Soil Health Bucket lessons do not, by themselves, entirely support the desired performance outcomes. Rather, these lessons can be used in support of meeting these standards.
This crosswalk was done from November 2021-May 2022. Eleven South Dakota teachers who taught middle and high school science as well as agriculture (high school only) were selected after an application process. Teachers selected two to three lessons from the list of the soil health bucket lessons and aligned those lessons to their grade band's standards. Teachers also provided assessment and extension ideas for most of the lessons.
Phenomena is defined as "Observable events that students can use the three dimensions to explain or make sense of" (https://www.nextgenscience.org/glossary). Educator reviewers provided phenomena that will spark and guide student learning through the lessons.
Lesson 2
Soil Organic Matter Phenomena
Lesson 5
Soil Health Measurement Phenomena
Lesson 6*
Soil Bulk Density Phenomena
Lesson 7
Soil Biology Respiration Phenomena
Lesson 11*
Soil Nitrogen Phenomena
Lesson 12*
Soil Phosphorus Phenomena
Lesson 13*
Soil Infiltration Phenomena
As educators teach soil health and integrate the soil health buckets into their classrooms, we will curate examples of activities, lesson plans and units. If you would like to share how you are integrating soil into your classroom, please fill out this form. Note: requires a Google account to upload any photos or lesson plan documents. You can also email soileducation@sd-discovery.org.
Educator: Jim Clendenin
School/Organization: SD Voices for Soil Health Educator
Grade Band: Middle/high school
Lesson Plan Name: Soil Health Classroom Sequence
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.
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.
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.