
Edventures Dirt Camp
Experience how plants and animals rely on dirt while digging in!
Using this hands-on experiment kit, students collaborate, reflect, and problem-solve their way through tangible exploration of the origins and make-up of dirt. They learn about the physical properties of soil, then experience it using their senses. Their imagination is their only limit as they build like a beaver, tunnel like an ant, or burrow like a crayfish.
Students will see for themselves how humans have learned from animals, insects, plants, and even fungi to construct and cultivate. Delve into the differences between dirt and soil and apply this loamy lore to design an ideal farm. Through a multi-subject integration approach, learners will delight in rolling up their sleeves to experiment, engineer and excavate. Full contents list below. Accommodates 30 students. Recommended for Lower Elementary.
Standards: Aligns with NGSS
Click here to download a sample of the NGSS-aligned curriculum manual.
CHOKING HAZARD (1). Not for under 3 yrs.
Kit includes:
- Instructor Guide, 1 Ea
- Printed Student Journals, Set of 31
- Burrowing Animal Cut-Outs, Set of 31
- Bug Guides, 6 Ea
- Sheet of Labels, 1 Ea
- Curriculum Digital Download, 1 Ea
- Large Storage Tub, 1 Ea
- Small Storage Tub, 1 Ea
- Hard Plastic Containers (6 quart), 6 Ea
- #2 Pencils, 3 Sets of 12
- Baking Soda (8 oz box), 1 Ea
- Blank Paper (8 1/2" x 11"), 500 Sheets
- Clay (8 lb bucket), 1 Ea
- Children's Scissors, 5 Ea
- Colored Pencils, Set of 12
- Deli Containers with Lids (16 oz), Set of 50
- Food Coloring (4 color pack), 1 Ea
- Garden Lime (6-3/4 lb), 1 Ea
- Ice Cube Trays, 10 Ea
- Lava Rock (10 cups), 1 Ea
- Magnifying Glasses, 10 Ea
- Markers, Set of 8
- Masking Tape Roll, 1 Ea
- Measuring Cup, 1 Ea
- Paintbrushes, Set of 30
- Paper Cups (4 oz), Set of 20
- Paper Plates, Set of 100
- Paper Towel Roll, 1 Ea
- Pea Gravel (10 cups), 1 Ea
- Pencil Sharpeners, 6 Ea
- Ph Strips, Set of 200
- Pipettes, Set of 50
- Pitchers, 5 Ea
- Popsicle Sticks, Pack of 1,000
- Rulers, 5 Ea
- Silt (32 oz), 1 Ea
- Skittles (2.17 oz), 1 Ea
- Sphagnum Peat Moss (10 quarts), 1 Ea
- Spoons, 50 Ea
- Straws, 250 Ea
- Sugar Cubes (1 lb), 1 Ea
- Table Covers, 6 Ea
- Toilet Paper Roll, 1 Ea
- Topsoil (18 quarts), 1 Ea
- Vinegar (1 quart), 1 Ea
- White Liquid Glue (4 oz), 1 Ea
- Ziploc Bag (1 gallon), 1 Ea
Next Generation Science Standards*:
- K-2-ETS1-1: Ask questions, make observations, and gather information about a situation people want to change to define a simple problem that can be solved through the development of a new or improved object or tool.
- K-2-ETS1-2: Develop a simple sketch, drawing, or physical model to illustrate how the shape of an object helps it function as needed to solve a given problem.
- K-2-ETS1-3: Analyze data from tests of two objects designed to solve the same problem to compare the strengths and weaknesses of how each performs.
- K-ESS2-2: Construct an argument supported by evidence for how plants and animals (including humans) can change the environment to meet their needs.
- K-LS1-1: Use observations to describe patterns of what plants and animals (including humans) need to survive.
- 1-LS1-1: Use materials to design a solution to a human problem by mimicking how plants and/or animals use their external parts to help them survive, grow, and meet their needs.
- 1-LS1-2: Read texts and use media to determine patterns in behavior of parents and offspring that help offspring survive.
- 2-LS4-1: Make observations of plants and animals to compare the diversity of life in different habitats.
- 2-PS1-1: Plan and conduct an investigation to describe and classify different kinds of materials by their observable properties.
- 2-PS1-2: Analyze data obtained from testing different materials to determine which materials have the properties that are best suited for an intended purpose.
- 3-LS2-1: Construct an argument that some animals form groups that help members survive.
- 3-LS4-3: Construct an argument with evidence that in a particular habitat some organisms can survive well, some survive less well, and some cannot survive at all.
- 3-LS4-4: Make a claim about the merit of a solution to a problem caused when the environment changes and the types of plants and animals that live there may change.
- 3-PS2-2: Make observations and/or measurements of an object’s motion to provide evidence that a pattern can be used to predict future motion.
- 3-5-ETS1-1: Define a simple design problem reflecting a need or a want that includes specified criteria for success and constraints on materials, time, or cost.
- Core Idea ESS1.C: The History of Planet Earth
- Core Idea ESS2.A: Earth’s Materials and Systems
- Core Idea ESS2.C: The Roles of Water in Earth’s Surface Processes
- Core Idea LS1.A: Structure and Function
- Core Idea LS2.C: Ecosystem Dynamics
- Core Idea LS4.C: Adaptation
- Core Idea PS1.A: Structure and Properties of Matter
- Core Idea PS1.B: Chemical Reactions
*The Next Generation Science Standards are a registered trademark of WestEd. Neither WestEd nor the lead states and partners that developed the Next Generation Science Standards were involved in the production of this product, and do not endorse it.
Common Core Math Standards*:
- CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.1.G.A.2: Compose two-dimensional shapes (rectangles, squares, trapezoids, triangles, half-circles, and quarter-circles) or three-dimensional shapes (cubes, right rectangular prisms, right circular cones, and right circular cylinders) to create a composite shape, and compose new shapes from the composite shape.
- CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.2.G.A.1: Recognize and draw shapes having specified attributes, such as a given number of angles or a given number of equal faces. Identify triangles, quadrilaterals, pentagons, hexagons, and cubes.
*National Governors Association Center for Best Practices & Council of Chief State School Officers. (2010). Common Core State Standards. Washington, DC: Authors.