Lesson 15 of 15 · Earth Systems

Experiment⭐ 30 XP🌋 Rock Realm

Soil Is a Resource Too

🧪Lab Brief #15

Earth Systems.

🎯 Your mission

Predict it first. Then prove yourself right (or wrong).

⚡ The twist

Today's mountain was yesterday's ocean floor.

🤯

Mind = Blown

🌋 There are 1,500 active volcanoes on Earth right now.

🔮

Make a hypothesis first

Guess: where will the water go first?

What You'll Learn

It takes centuries to build a few centimetres of topsoil and a single storm to strip it from a bare field. Ploughing along contours, planting cover crops and keeping hedges all slow the loss.

Key Words

Tap a word to see its definition.

Materials Needed

two trays
soil
grass seed
watering can
balance
filter paper

Safety First

Wash hands thoroughly after handling soil.
Mop up spills straight away to prevent slips.

Steps

Step 1 — Read

Read the explanation above and note the two key terms before you start.

Step 2 — Do

Tilt two trays of soil, one bare and one planted with grass seed grown for two weeks, and pour the same amount of water down each. Collect and weigh the soil washed out of each.

Step 3 — Observe

Record what actually happened, including anything that did not match what you expected.

Step 4 — Record

Write a conclusion that answers the question this lesson opened with, and state your uncertainty.

Check Your Understanding

Question 1

1 of 2

Which loses more soil in heavy rain?

How sure are you going to be?😐 maybe

🌍

Where you see this in real life

This is shaping the ground you walk on, slowly, every single day.

🏆

Stretch Challenge

Try this in real life this week.

Find a rock outside and try to guess how old it is.

👨‍👩‍👧

For the dinner table

“What's the slowest change you can think of?”

🎯

Next Smart Experiment

We'll pick an experiment that matches exactly how you're thinking right now.

🧪Share card

Share this experiment

Send it to a parent who's looking for a 10-minute kitchen science win.

Back

Ready?