Perhaps you have made a “cup of dirt” from pudding. But you can turn this simple snack into a tasty science activity by creating a soil horizons parfait! For this activity, you will make a parfait with 6 layers to represent the 6 horizons. This is an entertaining and tasty way to teach your students […]
Category: Earth Science
Are you teaching your students the difference between porosity and permeability? While these two properties of soils and rocks are related, they are not the same! And what better way to understand the difference between porosity and permeability than a hands-on lab activity!? In this lab experiment, compare the porosity and permeability of three sediments: […]
Are you studying soil science, gardening, or agriculture with your students? If so, you have probably learned that soil is a mixture of sediments and organic matter. But different soils have different amounts of these two ingredients. A soil’s organic matter content is important, especially when considering a soil’s ability to support plants. In this […]
This “jar test” is great for the classroom. Shake up soil and water in a jar. Then, watch the grains settle over time. Larger grains settle faster than smaller grains.
There are three phases of water. Water can transition between these phases via six different phase changes. In this post, learn about each one, then try out the phases of water classroom activity at the end! Ice (solid) Water molecules are packed closely together and bonded in a rigid pattern, such that they cannot move […]
If you live somewhere that gets snow in winter, you’ve likely measured the depth of snow before! But with a few extra steps, you can turn this simple task into an awesome, hands-on snow measurements lab activity for your classroom. By measuring snow and performing calculations, we can determine snow water equivalent, stored water, and […]
Before we dive into these fun tectonic plate activities, let’s review the basics. The theory of plate tectonics is a scientific theory central to the field of geology. This theory explains that the surface of the Earth is broken into large plates that are slowly moving. These plates slide past and over one another. Their […]
Earth’s lithosphere (surface) is broken into massive, irregularly-shaped pieces, called tectonic plates. Some of the plates are so large that they span entire continents. Others are smaller. Tectonic plates sit atop a denser, soft part of the mantle called the asthenosphere. If you need a refresher, view my Layers of the Earth post. The theory […]
A volcano is an opening in the crust where lava, volcanic gases, and ash are expelled onto the earth’s surface. They typically have cone-like shapes with depressions at their centers. There are three main types of volcanoes: shield volcanoes, stratovolcanoes (also known as composite volcanoes), and cinder cones. Apart from these main types, other categories […]
In school, you usually learn that the three main layers of the earth are the crust, mantle, and core. Geologists call these compositional layers, because the layers are defined by the materials they are made of. However, geologists also think about how different layers of the earth move: for example, do they flow easily? Are […]