3rd Grade Plants Unit

3^rd Grade Plants Unit Blueprint

Activity 2: Soil Particle Layering

Delta Science Module: Soil Science

Pacing Suggestions:

Day 1—Session 1 on pages 21- 24 in Teacher's Guide
Day 2—Session 2 on pages 24-26 in Teacher's Guide

Teacher Resources:

Tips

Essential & Unit Questions ¹

Benchmarks ²

Assessments ³

Using Assessments to Monitor Student Learning

What makes up soil? Where do the parts come from?

4C(3-5)#2: Rock is composed of different combinations of minerals. Smaller rocks come from the breakage and weathering of bedrock and larger rocks. Soil is made partly from weathered rock, partly from plant remains—and also contains many living organisms.

12D(3-5)#2: Make sketches to aid in [describing observations and] explaining procedures or ideas.

Activity Sheet 2 (Students make a Soil Particle Layering drawing and label the parts.)

Class discussion about the components of soil (See Session 1, Guiding the Activity, Steps 1-4 on pages 22 & 23 and Session II, Guiding the Activity, Steps 7-8 on pages 24 & 25 in Teacher's Guide.)

Click to view a sample picture of soil tubes.

Activity Sheet 2

Does the drawing contain labels?
Does the drawing contain most of the details of each layer so that the different layers are clearly represented in the drawing?
Is the drawing clear enough that it would be understandable weeks and/or months later?

Class Discussion:

Following the observation of the soil, do students know that soil is made-up of broken rocks and plants that were once alive?
Do they know that soil often contains many living animals?

1. For conceptual benchmarks.
2. Bolded sections indicate portion of benchmark addressed
3. Unless noted as a Summative Assessment, the assessments are formative and should be used to guide teaching and learning.

3rd Grade Plants Unit Blueprint

3^rd Grade Plants Unit Blueprint