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SOIL STUDIES

"Dirt" is what you sweep off the floor or wash from your hands. "Soil" is a precious natural resource. This difference should be recognized by your students before any other form of soil study is undertaken.

Students should become familiar with your county soil survey. Using the information in the survey, determine the location and various characteristics of the soils found on your school grounds. A soil testing area on each of the soil types should be established. Students should carefully examine the soil, layer by layer, starting at the surface and observing the types of vegetation growing there.

There are many good soil testing kits available for purchase from school supply catalogs. Try to obtain some of these. A very useful Natural Resource Conservation Service booklet titled "Teaching Soil and Water Conservation, A Classroom and Field Guide," - PA 341 is available from your county Natural Resources Conservation Service office.

As human population continues to expand, developing creative sources of energy is more critical. Setting up small scale demonstrations of solar and wind energy generation will make students aware of alternatives to fossil fuels, and perhaps even generate enough energy to power other features in the outdoor lab.

While a storage building is not necessary for all outdoor labs, it can certainly save time if the lab is located some distance from the school building. The building need not be large - just a dry, secure place to store shovels, hoes, weather instruments, soil probes, dip nets and any other items frequently used.

By not mowing selected areas of your school site, a greater diversity of plants and plant maturity will occur. This process of gradual (and predictable) replacement of one community of plants and animals by another is referred to as succession. Students can observe and record the various successional stages that will occur.

SUNDIAL

Very ornate sundials can be purchased, or students can make their own using simple materials like cardboard or wood. Either way, a sundial opens the door to the study of earth's movements, angles, and historical aspects of keeping time.

TIME CAPSULE

It's fun to look at mementos from the past, particularly when those items have some personal significance. Clues to what was news, what was popular and who you were can be rediscovered when placed in a time capsule to be opened years later. For example, kindergarten students might place news clippings, school photographs, popular toys, audio or video tapes and other treasures in a time capsule to be opened when they graduate from elementary or high school.

       The Forest Conservancy District Board for Baltimore County

9405 Old Harford Road

Baltimore, Maryland 21234

(410) 665-5820 

Email Robert Prenger ....... rprenger@dnr.state.md.us

 Melvin Noland ....... mlnoland@bcpl.net