Tag: project ideas

Posted on by — 1 Comment

Soil Science in Your Classroom: 5 educational activities to try

a graphic that has a picture of some soil and worksheets, with the text "5 soil science classroom activities"

Are you studying soil science with your homeschool or science class? Soil science is an exciting and interdisciplinary subject that integrates chemistry, physics, and environmental science. From testing soil organic matter to measuring porosity and permeability, hands-on lab activities will bring the real experience of being a soil scientist to your science classroom or homeschool. In this post, you’ll discover five educational soil science activities to try, including a soil texture jar test, modeling soil horizons, and more. These activities are perfect for helping your students explore the wonders of soil in a fun and interactive way!

Share This Post:

1. Try the Jar Test for Soil Textures

Soil scientists need to evaluate the “textures” of soils: in other words, the proportion of sand, silt, and clay in the sediment part of the soil. But this can be a challenge. How do you separate and measure all those tiny grains?

This most basic method, the “jar test”, is easy to do in a classroom setting. Shake up some soil and water in a jar. Then, watch the grains settle over time. Larger grains settle faster than smaller ones.

You can find the full activity directions for this science project in my blog! Or better yet, you can save time and support my blog when you purchase the printable worksheets and directions for this activity.

Online Directions (Free)
Printable Directions (Purchase)

2. Build a Soil Horizons Parfait

Did you know soils have layers? Scientists call the layers “soil horizons”. Each of the six soil horizons is given a letter: O, A, E, B, C, and R. The upper two horizons, O and A, are called topsoil. Each horizon has its own unique characteristics and function.

You can teach your students about layers in the soil by building a soil horizons parfait. Perhaps you have made a “cup of dirt” from pudding? With a few extra steps, you can turn this simple snack into a tasty science activity by creating a soil horizons parfait!

You can find the full activity directions for this “snack-tivity” in my blog! Or better yet, you can support my blog by purchasing my soil horizons mini study, which includes printable directions for this activity as well as soil horizon worksheets.

Online Directions (Free)
Printable Directions (Purchase)

3. Measure Porosity and Permeability

If you’re studying soils, your students will need to know the difference between soil porosity and permeability. While these two properties 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!?

Conveniently, soil porosity and permeability can be measured and observed using common household items. You can find the full activity write-up with directions for porosity and permeability in my blog! Or better yet, support my blog AND save time when you purchase the printable worksheets and directions for this lab activity.

Online Directions (Free)
Printable Directions (Purchase)
worksheets for permeability studies
Worksheets for porosity

4. Test for Soil Organic Matter

If you’re studying soils with your students, 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.

To demonstrate this, you can do a cool classroom demo by mixing soil with hydrogen peroxide. The hydrogen peroxide reacts with organic matter in the soil to make gas (i.e., fizzing and bubbles!). More bubbles = more organic matter in the soil!

Find the directions for a soil organic matter classroom demo in my blog! Or better yet, you can support my blog by purchasing the worksheets and printable directions for this classroom activity.

Online Directions (Free)
Printable Directions (Purchase)
dishes with soil on a lab bench next to liquid in a bottle and a clipboard

5. Learn About Decomposers

Decomposers are organisms with a very important job: they help recycle nutrients back into the soil. They help break down dead organic matter into the soil nutrients that help plants grow. There are many types of decomposers, including mushrooms and fungi, earthworms, and microbes.

You can print my free food web poster (including decomposers). To learn more about food webs and the important role of decomposers, check out my complete Food Webs Unit (for purchase).

If you are interested in studying mushrooms, I’ve also created some free mushroom anatomy printables. You can dive deeper into the world of fungi and mushrooms with my complete Mushroom Unit.

Food Web Poster (Free)
Food Webs Unit (Purchase)
Mushroom Anatomy (Free)
Mushroom Unit (Purchase)
photo of mushroom anatomy diagrams
I made these mushroom anatomy diagrams for you! You can download them for FREE.

Study Soil Science with Wild Earth Lab

Many of the activities from this post come from my complete Soil Science Unit! There’s no need to scramble to put together the perfect Soil Science Lesson – I’ve already created it for you! This set includes tons of activities and lab directions, teaching posters, handouts, and more!

Explore more units from Wild Earth Lab:

If you enjoyed this post, I know you will love using my other science units in your classroom!

View All Units
Build-Your-Own Bundle & Save!

Are you interested in more science activity ideas? Subscribe or follow Wild Earth Lab using the links below!

Subscribe, share, and comment:

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Build Your Own Food Webs: a creative ecology activity your students will love!

a banner with a picture of animal and plant flashcards on the sidewalk with chalk arrows between them, with the text "science project: let's build a food web! Step-by-step activity directions!"
text that says share this post

Are you searching for an engaging and educational ecology activity to try with your students? Building your own food webs is a fantastic way to study the flow of energy between organisms – all while allowing kids to be creative! Best of all, this is an activity that you can complete outside, making it perfect for homeschool parents and teachers who enjoy having class outdoors! Get ready to inspire your students with this unique and interactive ecology project!

A special note for educators: are you planning to teach this food webs activity? If so, I’ve already created all the worksheets, printable materials, handouts, and directions that you will need. Find these materials in my complete Food Webs Unit – and you’ll support this blog with your purchase! 💚

Recommended products

What is a food web?

A food web is a complex network of feeding relationships between organisms in an ecosystem. Energy flows from the organism being eaten to the organism doing the eating. We represent food webs using diagrams with arrows between the organisms. Food web diagrams map the many paths for the movement of energy between organisms.

I wrote a separate blog post in which you and your students can read more about food webs and food chains. It includes lots of diagrams and examples!

What types of organisms make a food web?

Flashcards of animals, plants, and fungi sorted into piles labeled consumers, producers, and decomposers

All the different lifeforms coexisting in an ecosystem form a community. The community is made of many individual, diverse lifeforms – like plants, animals, and fungi – called organisms.

When you build your food web model, it will include many different types of organisms. These organisms fall into three main categories, based on the roles they play in the food web. Knowing the difference between these roles will help you and your students build food webs.

In an ecosystem, you will find the following types of organisms:

1. Producer:

An organism that produces its own food through photosynthesis. Producers use sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide to make their own food. They also need soil nutrients.

Examples: trees and other plants, some plankton, moss, some microorganisms

2. Consumer:

An organism that eats other organisms as food. Consumers cannot make their own food. Consumers can be herbivores, omnivores, carnivores, and scavengers.

Examples: insects, birds, frogs, deer, other animals

3. Decomposer:

An organism that recycles nutrients back into the soil by eating and digesting decayed plant and animal matter and waste.

Examples: mushrooms, some worms, soil bacteria

Make your own food webs activity:

Gather your materials and follow these steps to create your own food webs with your students. You can all work on one big food web together, or each student can make their own mini-food web! There are many possibilities!

Materials

  • Flashcards or pictures of the organisms in an ecosystem (plants, animals, fungi, etc…)
    • Find an easy-to-use set in my food webs unit
    • Or, get a set for an ecosystem of interest (e.g., desert, arctic, forest, etc…)
    • You can also make your own set!
  • Sidewalk chalk
  • A large, paved area outdoors that is free of cars and heavy foot traffic

Step-by-Step Directions

Set-Up:
  1. Sort the organism cards into 3 piles:
    • producers
    • consumers
    • decomposers
  2. Look through your producers pile.
    • This pile represents the food sources for herbivores and omnivores (primary consumers) in your ecosystem.
  3. Look through the consumers pile.
    • Sort these cards further or make a mental note of which organisms are likely to eat plants (herbivores and omnivores) and which organisms are likely to eat animals (carnivores and omnivores).
  4. Research the diets of unfamiliar animals.
    • If students are unfamiliar with some of the animals and their diets, it may help to research the animals online. You can take notes on the backs of the cards if needed.
    • Note: if you’re using my food webs unit, a handout is provided with info on the diets of the included animals!
Build Your Food Web:
  1. Choose your producers.
    • It is easiest to start with one to three producers.
  2. Which consumers eat your producers? These are your primary consumers.
    • Place the primary consumers above your producers and draw arrows to represent the flow of energy from food to eater.
  3. Which consumers eat your primary consumers? These are your secondary consumers.
    • Place the secondary consumers above your primary consumers and draw arrows to represent the flow of energy from food to eater.
  4. Which consumers eat your secondary consumers? These are your tertiary consumers.
    • Place the tertiary consumers above your secondary consumers and draw arrows to represent the flow of energy from food to eater.
  5. Repeat this process as needed, until your reach a consumer that is not eaten by anyone else – this is your top predator!
    • You can make your food web as big or small as you’d like! It could include dozens of organisms or just a few.
  6. Add additional arrows as needed.
    • Food webs can be messy! Many any animals have multiple food sources and are preyed on by multiple predators.
  7. Optional: place any decomposer cards underneath the food web. Decomposers recycle nutrients back into the soil to help producers like plants grow!

Example Food Webs:

A food web made from printed pictures of animals and plants connected with arrows drawn with sidewalk chalk on a sidewalk
An example of building your own food web!

Study Food Webs with Wild Earth Lab:

Of course, you can put together your own food web materials to complete this activity. Or, save time and support my blog when you purchase my food webs unit! The unit includes everything you need to complete this activity plus additional handouts, worksheets, and readings!

Explore more lessons from Wild Earth Lab:

If you enjoyed this post, I know you will love using my other environmental science materials in your classroom!

View All Units
Build-Your-Own Bundle & Save!

Are you interested in reading more posts like this? Subscribe or follow Wild Earth Lab using the links below!

Subscribe, share, and comment:

Posted on by — 2 Comments

10 Nature-inspired art projects for kids to try in your classroom!

A variety of brightly-colored art projects for kids laid out on a wooden table. Projects shown include animal masks, phenology wheels, color wheels in nature, resistance watercolor landscapes, textures in nature, scratch art, one-point perspective forests, and oil pastel planets on black paper!

Wild Earth Lab is supported by readers like you. This post includes links to my own products and affiliate products. If you purchase through links on my site, I may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you.

Today, I wanted to share with you some of my favorite nature art projects from my recent art camp, so that you can try them with your students too! These educational art projects will help students use art as a lens for learning about nature and science – all while trying new art mediums and creating beautiful masterpieces! I hope these nature art projects for kids bring joy to your classroom!

photograph of blank sketchbook and paint brushes

1. Nature’s color wheel

For this nature art project, students create their own color wheels – with a twist. Instead of drawing blotches of each color, have students draw things from nature that are each color of the rainbow. Start with a short brainstorming session as a class. Then, students draw their own color wheels with one thing from nature for each color.

This activity is also great for introducing the concept of biodiversity. The reason we have so many different colors of animals, plants, and flowers in nature is that we have many unique species! Teach students more about biodiversity and colors in nature with my Colors in Nature Activity Pack.

What goes great with nature art projects? Of course my Colors in Nature Activity Pack!

2. Trees with 1-point perspective

Ask students to sit in a circle around the base of a tall tree. Observe how the trunk appears narrower higher up. Then, show students how to use 1-point perspective to create the image of a tall tree or trees viewed from below.

As a bonus, teach your students about forest ecology and the symbiotic relationships of trees when you introduce this art project! It will add another layer of depth to this project and you might even learn something new too! Find my lesson plans for forests and trees below:

3. Animal masks

Why mess with a classic? Students can draw and cut out masks of their favorite animals.

Start by drawing a line down the middle of the paper and discussing symmetry. Next, have students line up the center of the paper with their noses and mark where their eyes should go, with the help of a classmate or teacher. Then, students can draw the animal’s face around the eyes and color it in with their art supplies of choice.

If you prefer printable mask templates, check out my osprey and owl mask templates.

4. Phenology wheels

Phenology wheels help us observe and connect with nature throughout each month of the year. Use a printed phenology wheel template for students or use a compass/string and a ruler to draw a circle and divide it into 12 sections – one for each month. You can also use a light wash of watercolor to create stunning gradient backgrounds for your phenology wheels.

Ask students to think of things they’ve seen in nature during the current month. Consider plants, seasonal changes, types of animals, animal behaviors, weather, and more. Fill out the current month, then send students home with the phenology wheel so they can keep adding to this nature art project during the rest of the year!

I like this free phenology template from the Montana Natural History Center and this one from the Bureau of Land Management too. There are also tons of other phenology wheel templates around the web.

5. Textures in nature

Practice drawing different textures using things from nature. Print out close-up images of bark, fur, scales, insect wings, shells, etc… or better yet, head out into nature and examine natural things up close (with the exception of wildlife, of course!).

Have students draw 4-6 different observed textures. Ask them to consider how their shading, linework, pressure, and color choices help to create the appearance of different textures.

6. Watercolors for creativity

This activity is a great way to practice letting go of rigid expectations for our art. This can be especially beneficial for anyone who tends to become frustrated when their drawings don’t turn out the way they intended.

First, have students use bright colors to create abstract watercolor blotches on a piece of paper. Once the paint dries, use a black pen to turn the blotches into wildflowers, plants, or other images. This is a similar idea to cloud watching and finding images in the clouds. Encourage students to “find” images in the abstract blotches rather than trying to force the blotches to become a desired form. Students will use the pen to accentuate images found within the abstract painting.

Encourage students to apply this technique in their artwork in general – especially when working with mediums that we cannot easily erase or undo, such as carving, colored pencils, and watercolors. Think about ways we can turn “mistakes” into part of the drawing, rather than starting over or giving up.

Need watercolor painting supplies and instructions? It may help to try a beginner-friendly watercolor art kit.

7. Resistance watercolors & mountain landscapes

It has been said that mountains are like the water towers of the world – they collect huge amounts of snow through the winter and then fill our streams and rivers with snowmelt in the spring.

Reflect on mountains’ important role in the water cycle while painting mountains with watercolors – but with a twist! Use crayons first to make a part of the drawing – e.g., snowcapped peaks, the sun over the mountains, a river flowing down from the mountains, etc… Then, paint over the crayon with watercolor. The wax from the crayons repels the watercolors – creating a cool, mixed-media effect!

You can teach your kiddos the basics of watercolors with a kids’ watercolor art kit. And if you want to go the extra mile and learn all about the water cycle while completing this craft, try out my Water Cycle Lesson:

8. Drawing spheres to make planets, moons, and suns

Space provided the building blocks for planet Earth. Similarly, 3D shapes provide the building blocks for much more complex images in art! Learning to draw and shade simple 3D shapes can help us become better artists.

Teach students how to trace a lid and shade a circle to make it look like a 3D sphere. Then, use oil pastels to draw planets, moons, suns, or other space objects on black paper. Your students will love the way these turn out!

Best yet, all you need is oil pastels and black paper to complete this art activity!

9. Scratch-art for nocturnal critters and nighttime

Teach students about nocturnal animals. Then draw your favorite nocturnal animals on scratch art boards. Owls, bats, raccoons, and moths are all great options.

Scratch-art sheets are the perfect medium for drawing nighttime scenes because you start with a dark canvas and then scratch the black coating off with a stylus to reveal a lighter color beneath. Scratch-art is also a great medium for underwater scenes, outer space, and geometric pattern work.

You can also learn more about nocturnal, diurnal, and crepuscular animals with my desert ecosystem mini study!

10. Picture charades

pexels-photo-8923942.jpeg

Picture Charades is always hilarious, fast-paced fun. To set up, pick a theme, then write words or common phrases related to that theme on little pieces of paper to put in a hat. For example, if the theme is “wildlife”, you could write down frog, butterfly, deer, snake, eagle, etc…

Then, divide the class into two groups. Each group sends one “illustrator” to the front of the room. The illustrators take one piece of paper from the hat and look at it together. When you say “go”, the two illustrators draw on the whiteboard while their teams guess. The illustrators should be silent and should not write any letters or words. The first team to correctly guess the word/phrase wins the round. Then, each team sends up a new illustrator. Repeat until everyone has taken a turn drawing, or for as long as desired.

Picture charades are a wonderful activity for taking a break in between more structured art projects. It provides a silly way to make art while moving around and having a laugh.

Picture Charade Ideas

Wildlife: frog, butterfly, deer, snake, eagle, robin, worm, rabbit, wolf, fish, bee, and skunk.

Forest: pine tree, pinecone, leaf, root, berries, vine, owl, fox, squirrel, bush, branch, and acorn.

Ocean: shell, seagull, wave, jellyfish, starfish, shark, seaweed, bubbles, beach, sand, dolphin, and sea turtle.

Pond: lily pad, algae, cattail, frog, tadpole, fish, dragonfly, duck, goose, water strider, turtle, and heron.

Explore units from Wild Earth Lab:

If you enjoyed the nature art projects in this post, I know you will love using my nature-inspired classroom units!

View All Units
Build-Your-Own Bundle & Save!

Are you interested in more nature activities and project ideas? Subscribe or follow Wild Earth Lab using the links below!

Sharing options and discussion for this post: