Soil Moisture Activity Source: Soil Science Society of America Soil moisture is the water stored in the soil and is affected by precipitation, temperature, soil characteristics, and more. These same factors help determine the type of biome present, and the suitability of land for growing crops. The health of our crops relies upon an adequate supply of moisture and soil nutrients, among other things. As moisture availability declines, the normal function and growth of plants are disrupted, and crop yields are reduced. [Read More]

Soil Properties Activity Source: Adapted with permission from Kristen Lucke, Views of the National Parks, National Park Service. “Soil porosity” refers to the amount of pores, or open space, between soil particles. Pore spaces may be formed due to the movement of roots, worms, and insects; expanding gases trapped within these spaces by groundwater; and/or the dissolution of the soil parent material. Soil texture can also affect soil porosity There are three main soil textures: sand, silt, and clay. [Read More]

Soil, Plants, and the Energy Cycle Activity Source: Soil Science Society of America. Adapted with permission. Soils are critical for many aspects of our daily life. They provide food such as grains, vegetables, and animal feed. They provide fiber for clothing, as in cotton, flax-linen, and hemp. And they provide shelter materials like wood and brick. But did you realize that soils also are an important part of the energy cycle? [Read More]

Soil, the Forgotten Resource Activity Source: Adapted with permission by Ward’s Natural Science. Soil is often overlooked as a natural resource. Like fossil fuels, we depend on it for energy in the form of foods. And, like fossil fuels, it is nonrenewable. Soil is a delicate balance of inorganic minerals, organic matter, living organisms, soil water, and soil atmosphere. The natural development of soil is an exceedingly slow process. In a few hours, a heavy rain falling on exposed soil can remove inches of what took hundreds of years to form. [Read More]

Soil’s Role in Carbon Sequestration The map, “Earth’s Biomes,” shows the locations of 18 types of biomes and their distribution around the world. Compare the map to the Soil Orders on the front of the Geologic Map Day Poster and the Carbon Sequestration Map on the back of the 2022 Geologic Map Day poster. Earth’s Biomes Credit: Creative Commons, Ville Koistinen, Full-size version available at: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e4/Vegetation.png a. What trends do you notice about the biomes that match up with soils capable of carbon sequestration? [Read More]

Solar Cell Energy Nationwide Activity Source: Adapted with permission by NASA. MY NASA DATA microsets are created using data from NASA Earth science satellite missions. A microset is a small amount of data extracted from a much larger data file. Data is available on the atmosphere, biosphere, cryosphere, ocean, and land surface. Data and related lessons can be used with existing curriculum to help students practice science inquiry and math or technology skills using real measurements of Earth system variables and processes. [Read More]

Solar Updraft Tower Activity Source: American Association of Petroleum Geologists. Adapted with permission. Electricity is the most common type of energy used around the world to power homes and businesses. Traditionally, electricity is generated in power plants that burn coal or oil. These resources have been used at a rapid rate and also give off greenhouse gases, which have contributed to global climate change. Alternative sources of energy, such as solar, wind, and geothermal, are renewable energies that do not lead to an increase in greenhouse gases and are therefore more sustainable. [Read More]

Sources of Minerals Activity Source: Mineralogical Society of America. Adapted with permission. We are surrounded by objects that we depend upon for our everyday lives. From our clothes to our phones, bikes, cars, showers, plates, chairs, televisions, computers, and nearly everything else, we rely on objects made of a variety of materials. But where do those materials come from in the first place, and what happens when we run out of them? [Read More]

Space Archaeology Activity Source: Archaeological Institute of America. Adapted with permission. Want to be an archaeologist without leaving your school? No problem! Use a computer to become a space archaeologist (no spacesuit required)! Archaeologists are using remote sensing techniques to find archaeological sites with greater accuracy than ever before. Remote sensing refers to a variety of non-intrusive techniques that can be used to create detailed images of the Earth’s surface and record sub-surface features. [Read More]

Splish Splash Activity Source: National Geographic Expeditions Overview Crucial to our existence, water sustains all life on Earth. Following the old adage, “What goes around comes around,” water moves continuously through the stages of the hydrologic cycle (evaporation, condensation, and precipitation). How does our drinking water fit into this hydrologic cycle? Where did the water we drink fall as precipitation? Did this water percolate down into the ground as part of a groundwater system, or did it remain on the surface as part of a surface water system? [Read More]