Real World Project...erosion

We have been working on learning about Natural Resources in Virginia...including our watersheds, our forests, and now our land and soil. 

I decided to start with a real problem...erosion at our schoolyard.  I took the kids out for a walk to see the spot near our classroom.  What do you notice about the spot?  Why do you think we are having trouble growing grass here?

Then we came back into the class and brainstormed ways that we could test what the problem was.

The science groups came up with many different ideas to test...was it the soil? (clay vs. potting soil), was it the hill? (clay hill vs. no hill) was it the fact that the soil did not have worms to give it nutrients? (worms in soil vs. no worms in soil) was it the fact that there were rocks in the soil?

Then the groups came up with a plan....



The next day we gathered the supplies and created our projects/investigations/experiments....


Each group has a blue tray with materials, an index card with the group number and the task they are testing.

Next, each group made a visual poster to show what they are testing - clarifying their ideas.




These posters are now posted on my bulletin board...I will keep you informed as to what the kids can prove...

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