Soil Unit Part 4: Soil Conservation

This Unit about Soil Conservation is 6 lessons (50 minutes each) and has students chronologically follow a 9 page work bundle. Students and teachers follow a highly visual slideshow road map that includes important fill-in notes (red slides), video and academic links, questions and answers, an activity that has explore soil, particle size, and design a farm using soil conservation measures. Built-in quizzes, games, crossword puzzle, end of the the bundle assessment, and much more are provided. This bundle converts nicely to google classroom and also includes both a printed and digital version of the work bundle if working remote or posting to Google Classroom. Everything you need to run a fantastic unit is provided.

This PowerPoint begins describing types of erosion with water and wind examples as well as deposition. Great visuals are provided. Soil degradation worldwide is shown with some examples of soil conservation vs. no conservation. Some pictures of the Dust Bowl are then shown and a video link provided. Students do some investigating to try find the name of the ionic "Migrant Mother" photograph of Florence Thompson during the Dust Bowl. I usually don't give them much and make them try and investigate. Usually the find the photo after a short search. Soil conservation measures are then described with a focus on reducing erosion and restoring soil fertility. A template with a Farm is provided in the PowerPoint. The teacher prints up this farm image and the students create sketches / create their own farm as each soil conservation measure is covered. Great visuals and simple notes combined with the create a farm activity make this part extremely effective. Students learn about conservation plowing, contour plowing, alley cropping, wind breaks, plow winds, strip cropping, crop rotation, cover crop, manure, green manure, gully dams, and much more. A great visual quiz with answers are provided that have the students record the name of the soil conservation measure from a picture. The questions are shown one last time before the answers are revealed so the teacher can call upon students. This is an exciting unit full of fun and engaging activities and discussion points.

If you have any questions please feel free to contact us at Suppurt@SlideSpark.net