Soils and Weathering

Investigation 1

4-ESS2-1: Make observations and/or measurements to provide evidence of the effects of weathering or the rate of erosion by water, ice, wind, or vegetation.

Guiding Question: How do soils form?

Part 1: What is soil?

Part 2 What causes big rocks to break down into smaller rocks?

Part 3 How are rocks affected by acid rain?

Part 4: What’s in your backyard soils?

Students investigate properties of soil by comparing four different soils. They learn that soils are composed of essentially the same types of materials (inorganic earth materials and humus), but the amounts of the materials vary. They begin to explore how rocks break into smaller pieces through physical and chemical weathering. Students go outdoors to explore and compare properties of local soils.

Part 1 — Soil Composition

Students observe and compare four different soils. They learn that soils are composed of essentially the same types of materials (inorganic earth materials and humus), but the amounts of the materials vary. Students speculate on where each of four soils came from: mountain, desert, river delta, or forest.