Students will construct a soil profile on paper using given data - color, texture, and depth of various Pinelands soils.

Ask students to describe soils with which they are familiar, e.g. beach, farm, forest, garden.

Distribute the data sheet "Soils Information" and review it with the class. Relate information given by students on soils of various areas to the information on the data sheet.

Distribute the "Representative Soil Profile" sheet to students and review it with the class.

Distribute "Pinelands Soil Chart I" and "Pinelands Soil Chart II" to students. Have the students identify how the soil is divided into layers or horizons. These are given in thickness in inches.

Next, note the color of each layer is distinctive and discuss these distinctions. Finally, note the texture of the given soils.

After discussing the soil attributes, Distribute to students the "Soil Profile Worksheet I" and the "Soil Profile Worksheet II". Assign each student one of the ten soils listed (Lakehurst, Lakewood, etc.)in the "Pinelands Soil Charts I and II" to be used in completing the worksheets. These sheets may be done as homework or as a classroom project. Each student will develop a soil profile for his or her soil and answer the worksheet questions based on the information provided in the soil charts.

Discuss the answers students have provided for "Soil Profile Worksheet II" as a class.

EVALUATION:

Check students' soil profile worksheets for accuracy. Students should also demonstrate mastery through in class discussion of their soil profile worksheet answers.

FOLLOW-UP:

1. Class may go outdoors to discover soil profiles in the immediate area. An exposed bank or a hole you have dug with a shovel can be used to illustrate a profile (if available, a soil auger or soil punch can be utilized to extract soil samples). Extracted profiles can be carefully glued and mounted for display. Try to obtain profiles from different areas to compare and contrast them.

2. Able students can utilize the information in either of the Pinelands Soil Charts to create a graph that illustrates the profiles of a series of soils, their relationship to elevation and to each other, and the proximity of the water table.

This lesson will introduce the students to the following vocabulary words:(click on the word to see its definition-use your browser's back button to return to this page)

horizon, humus, leaching, loam, mineral, mottles, organic, oxidized, percolates, permeability

Science standards:

5.1-All students will learn to identify systems of interacting components and understand how their interactions combine to produce the overall behavior of the system.

5.2-All students will develop problem solving, decision making, and inquiry skills, reflected by formulating useable questions and hypotheses, planning experiments, conducting systematic observations, interpreting and analyzing data, drawing conclusions, and communicating results.

5.5-All students will integrate mathematics as a tool for problem-solving in science and as a means of expressing and/or modeling scientific theories.

5.10-All students will gain an understanding of the structure, dynamics, and geophysical systems of the earth.

Evaluate our site! Click on the Grade Page icon to go to our evaluation page. Won't you please take a minute to tell us how we can better help you bring the Pinelands into your classroom