Lesson1: SOILS
Class Room Work

1. What constitutes a soil

The children were asked what they thought were the main constituents of soil. The answers that they gave were put up on the blackboard and listed in one of four groupings tabulated below.

After the children exhausted their ideas we filled in the gaps and went on to discuss what role each of the main constituents played in the soil.

2. Looking at different soils

Four different examples of soil were collected prior to the class they were handed round for the children to look at, feel, smell and describe. Each one was discussed in detail after all the children had a chance to examine them.

The four soil types that we used were:

sandy soil
clay soil
clay loam
compost (humus)

3. What soil type is the best for growing vegetables?

A good soil for growing vegetables is a mix of sand, clay and humus, this type of soil is called a sandy clay loam.

It was pointed out that any soil could be changed into a good soil provided that you were prepared to do some work.

4. Typical Soil In The Gundaroo Area

Two soil profiles (drawn below) were collected prior to the lesson. One was of some unimproved land that was growing native grasses and the other was collected from an established vegetable garden. Both soil profiles were examined and discussed.