Soil & Technology: Web Soil Survey

Overview

Grade: 6th

Topic: EARTH AND SPACE SCIENCE (ESS) Rocks, Minerals and Soil

Standard:

Earth Science

• 6.ESS.4: Soil is unconsolidated material that contains nutrient matter and weathered rock.

• 6.ESS.5: Rocks, minerals and soils have common and practical uses.

Scientific Inquiry, Practice and Applications

• Apply knowledge of science content to real-world challenges

• Use appropriate mathematics, tools and techniques to gather data and information

• Analyze and interpret data

After being introduced to the Web Soil Survey, groups of students will assess the school property from various perspectives looking at potential land uses.

Using the web soil survey students will:

• Gain an appreciation of the importance in soils and their potential impact on the suitability for various land uses.

• Learn how to navigate and create an Area of Interest for a known locations

• Learn how to use the Web Soil Survey to evaluate an area for its potential suitability for various land uses.

Introduction

Explain to students that they are going to have an in-depth look at their school property today. Using technology available, WSS and aerial photographs they are going to determine what possible land uses the school site could have.

Introduce the web soil survey. Explain that there are more than 80 different kinds of soil in Butler County alone. Each soil has different properties meaning that not all are good for development, forestry, ponds, or whatever. Some soils are high in organic matter, some soils have a very shallow bedrock, some soils are slip prone, etc. The web soil survey allows us to find out the different soils at a location and look at the properties of these soils and how they can influence potential land uses.

• Ask students to come up with a list of possible people that would work with this information. Developers, farmers, engineers, city planners, homeowners, foresters, etc.

Teacher Prep

Either assign students to groups, or have them work individually.

Each group, or individual, will need a worksheet for the scenario they will research.

Play a little with the Web Soil Survey before setting your students loose.

Activity

Setting the study location/Area of Interest (AOI)

Show students how to locate their school using the WSS and the address tool.

Show the students how to set an area of interest for the school property. (see instructions)

Ask the students (Remember that these details may differ a little for each group depending upon their accuracy at setting the area of interest:

• How many acres is the property?

• How many soils types are located on the school property?

Now that the students can view the area, ask them to imagine that the lot is empty, that there is no school, no parking lot, athletic fields, nothing. Have students come up with a list of possible land uses for the site, trying to keep it to the possible (no theme parks or zoos). Examples could include: Park, park with nature center, wetland, shopping center, home, home with basement, farmland, replant a forest, etc, build a fishing pond.

Assign each group to one of the following scenarios:

• Park Manager- You want to build a new metropark with small nature center, rest rooms, paved roads and parking, a playground picnic area and a wildlife area

• Developer - You want to build a neighborhood of homes with basements. The homes will not be hooked up to sanitary sewer lines, so make sure to check if septic systems are a suitable option. The property also must include roads and a detention basin/pond

• Homeowner – You want to build your home on the lot. The home will have a basement, driveway, pond. You also plan to pasture a couple of horses.

• Farmer – Your farm house is on adjacent property, but you wish to build a barn and pond along with growing non-irrigated crops and pasturing cattle.

Details on Web Soil Survey: Explain that each group will assess the site using Web Soil Survey (WSS) for each of their needs. Show the students how to use the Suitabilities and Limitations for Land Use and the Soil Properties and Qualities tabs on the WSS.

Create a Free Report: Explain how to pull data to create a free report. After they have created each map, they can click "Add to Shopping Cart," in the top right of the screen.

Complete your worksheet: Students will then look at their project’s requirement and use WSS to answer the following:

• Is it suitable for each requirement

• What limitations are in place for each requirement

• Is there a best location within the property for that particular land use

• Is there anything in particular that makes this location exceptionally well suited for your project?

Limitations: For each map that you pull up, it will be color coded. If you scroll down it will tell you the limitations nd how severe they are on a scale of 0 - 1.0, with 1.) being the most severe.

What about wildlife and the environment? While working on their projects, groups should also think about the needs of wildlife and the environment. This should be taken into consideration during this process. Possibilities include leaving natural areas, hedgerows, providing different types of habitat, etc. Students should think about:

• How will their project positively or negatively impact the environment?

• What would the future impact be if the areas expanded (bigger building/pond)?

• Are there changes to the original plans that would help to minimize the environmental impact of the development?

Each group should create:

• A soil report for that site looking at your list of wishes. After they have created each map, they can click "Add to Shopping Cart," in the top right of the screen.

• On the soil map for the property, draw (either by hand or using drawing software such as photoshop) the location of each of your land uses requirements.

Schedule a follow up virtual Q&A and/or demonstration

Contact your county educator tfor a virtual Q& A session or demonstration for your students.

Extensions

Reading These readings about soil are free with registration on ReadWorks, a nonprofit that provides Common-Core-aligned readings. All readings include comprehension questions.

• Biochar -Read about a soil enhancement research project

• Developing Possible Solutions - Paired Text with Biochar reading

• Solving Problems by building structures- Paired reading

• Designing from scratch - contains question set

Activities:

Show the students a copy of the old soil survey and explain that the WSS is a more up to date version of the traditional soil survey. Have them look through the paper version to see if they can find the school. This is much harder with these old maps.

Have students find the location of the school on various years of aerial photographs for them to view the changes in land-use over time. (available through the Soil and Water Conservation District).

Questions

Questions? Please contact your county SWCD educator