AGRICULTURE
THE SOIL

Grade Level:
6^th-8^th

Standards Integration:
Minnesota:
Grades 6-8: Inquiry and Research-Controlled Experiments
4. Determining how to record and organize data.
5. Conducting experiment and record data.

North Dakota:
Grades 5-8: Science-Science Inquiry
8.2.2 Design and carry out a scientific investigation.

Materials:
Found on website www.agclassroom.org/teacher/pdf/prairie/6_8/3_justPassing.pdf

Objectives:

	In order to observe the richness of Red River Valley soil, students will test various types of soil and determine which would work best to grow crops.
	Students will communicate with each other in order to form a consensus about which soil is richest.

Background:
Little did the early settlers to the Red River Valley know, but they happened upon some of the world’s richest soil. Abounding in minerals and fairly dense, the soil is considered excellent for growing some of the world’s most needed crops: wheat, barley, corn, potatoes, and sugar beets, for instance. This soil is the result of the advancement and retreat of Lake Agassiz 9,500 years ago, which lead to the deposit of silt and other valuable minerals into the soil.

Pre-Visit Activity:
Using the website, www.agclassroom.org, have the students complete the activity, “Just Passing Through”, found under teacher lesson plans. Make sure to use soil found around the area in which you live (have students bring in various samples). Complete the activity until the “Group Investigations” area.

Post-Visit Activity:
Finish the “Just Passing Through” activity under the “Group Investigations” area. The students should have a better understanding of the soil content in the Valley. Give the students a “quiz”, asking them to guess which soils were topsoil, clay-based, etc. Observe which students were able to deduce which soil is indeed Red River Valley soil.