Georgia SKE2.c
The Standard
Use tools to observe and record physical attributes of soil such as texture and color.
Georgia Standards of Excellence for Science · Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information to describe the physical attributes of earth materials (soil, rocks, water, and air).
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students use a hand lens and color chart to examine soil samples. They describe texture and color, then record what they notice with drawings, words, or symbols.
What Mastery Looks Like
- Students accurately name a soil sample’s color and describe its texture as grainy, smooth, coarse, fine, sticky, or crumbly. Their records match what they observed.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may call every soil sample brown or assume all soil feels the same. They may confuse texture with color or record guesses instead of what they can observe.
How to Assess It
- Give each student a dry soil sample, hand lens, and exit slip. Prompt: Draw the soil, circle its color, and choose one texture word.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Place three soil samples in trays, then have students use hand lenses and touch sticks to record each sample’s color and texture.
Ask, “How are these two soil samples alike and different?” and record student evidence on a class chart.
Play Soil Sort by having students group sample cards by color, then regroup them by texture.
Compare playground soil with potting soil, then ask which would work better in a classroom plant pot and why.
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Printable SKE2.c Worksheet
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Related Standards
- S3E1
Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information about the physical attributes of rocks and soils.
- SKE2
Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information to describe the physical attributes of earth materials (soil, rocks, water, and air).
- S3E1.b
Plan and carry out investigations to describe properties (color, texture, capacity to retain water, and ability to support growth of plants) of soils and soil t...
- S3E1.c
Make observations of the local environment to construct an explanation of how water and/or wind have made changes to soil and/or rocks over time.
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