The carbon cycle game is a short digital game that helps you teach how carbon atoms move through various forms including soils, the ocean, plant and animal life and fossil fuels. Actions such as photosynthesis, plant and animal death and forest fires all convert carbon from one form into another. This is a card style game. It allows for single or multi players. Runs on a browser.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Methane (CH₄) is regarded as an important greenhouse gas, with a global warming potential 25 times higher than CO₂. Soil methanogens – organisms that generate CH₄ in the soil – participate in complex interactions, which determine the community structures and functions. Better understanding patterns in these interactions will help to address issues surrounding methane emissions. A recent study evaluated methane emissions and methanogenic archaeal communities. Beginning in rice paddies across Asia, a major source of CH₄ emissions. researchers measured archaea from 429 soil samples in 13 different regions in China. They found that network topological properties – which were correlated with mean annual temperature – were the chief predictor of CH₄ emissions. Methanogenic groups involved in commonly occurring links in the co-occurrence networks contributed the highest proportion of CH₄..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

In this activity, you will read the book "Diary of a Worm" and then your students will create their own diary.

Course outline and reading list; spreadsheet with list of readings by topic with licensing info for each.

Course Description:
Covers environmental topics that are primarily geological in nature. Includes geology basics, soil resources, hydrogeology, nonrenewable mineral and energy resources, perpetual energy resources, and solid waste. The associated laboratories will illustrate these topics and may include fieldwork.

Upon completion of the course students should be able to:

Express graphically, orally or in writing, basic elements of environmental earth-sciences.
Identify and express geological interactions of humans and the environment.
Utilize field and laboratory methods/technologies to measure and describe environmental factors.
Demonstrate an understanding of geologic time scales and processes.

Students pretend they are agricultural engineers during the colonial period and design a miniature plow that cuts through a "field" of soil. They are introduced to the engineering design process and learn of several famous historical figures who contributed to plow design.

Students learn how the process of soil solarization is used to pasteurize agricultural fields before planting crops. Soil solarization is a pest control technique in agriculture that uses the sun’s radiation to heat the soil and eliminate unwanted pests that could harm the crops. The approach is compared to other pest control methods such as fumigation and herbicide application, highlighting the respective benefits and drawbacks. In preparation for the associated hands-on activity on soil biosolarization, students learn how changing the variables involved in the solarizing process (such as the tarp material, soil water content and addition of organic matter) impacts the technique’s effectiveness. A PowerPoint® presentation and pre/post-quiz is provided.

 In this lesson, students will define what soil texture is, examine the importance of soil texture for the purpose of growing crops or other recreational purposes, and then determine soil texture with a hands-on activity. 

This lesson introduces the idea of soil as an ecosystem and as a carbon sink.

Step 1 - Inquire: Students view a timelapse video that demonstrates the difference between soils with and without invertebrate decomposers.

Step 2 - Investigate: Students learn about the concept of soil as a carbon sink and examine soil samples to learn how to define soil.

Step 3 - Inspire: Students draw and record their findings demonstrating understanding of soil as an ecosystem and create a model of their soil artistically using found materials in the classroom.

Students design and conduct experiments to determine what environmental factors favor decomposition by soil microbes. They use chunks of carrots for the materials to be decomposed, and their experiments are carried out in plastic bags filled with dirt. Every few days students remove the carrots from the dirt and weigh them. Depending on the experimental conditions, after a few weeks most of the carrots will have decomposed completely.

This activity is a field investigation where students find out what makes up soil.

This activity is a field investigation where students find out what makes up soil.

Rapid changes at Earth's surface, largely in response to human activity, have led to the realization that fundamental questions remain to be answered regarding the natural functioning of the Critical Zone, the thin veneer at Earth's surface where the atmosphere, lithosphere, hydrosphere and biosphere interact. EARTH 530 will introduce you to the basics necessary for understanding Earth surface processes in the Critical Zone through an integration of various scientific disciplines. Those who successfully complete EARTH 530 will be able to apply their knowledge of fundamental concepts of Earth surface processes to understanding outstanding fundamental questions in Critical Zone science and how their lives are intimately linked to Critical Zone health.

This field investigation allows students to collect and observe earthworms using liquid extraction to help develop background knowledge at the start of a new earthworm unit.

A learning activity for the "All About Earth: Our World on Stage" book in the Elementary GLOBE series. In pairs, students will create experimental conditions in terrariums in order to study what plants need to live. Variables to study include the presence or absence of soil, water, and sunlight. Students will record the growth of radish plants as well as observations of "the water cycle" in their terrariums. At the conclusion of their experiments, students will share their results with the class and discuss how water, Earth materials, and air are all necessary to support living things. The purpose of the activity is to acquaint students with the hydrosphere, geosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere more closely, to have students use microcosms to study natural phenomena, and to introduce students to the concept of a "fair test" in a scientific investigation. After completing this activity, students will know about the importance of the hydrosphere, geosphere, and atmosphere in supporting the biosphere. They will learn how to set up "fair test", record detailed observations, use drawings as scientific records, make sense of experimental results, and share them publicly.

A learning activity for the Scoop on Soils book in the Elementary GLOBE Series. Each student will make predictions about the properties of various soil samples. Then they will examine several types of soils and record their observations. Next, they will learn about soil profiles and horizons by both examining a soil sample in a jar and by creating a soil profile flip chart. The purpose of the activity is to provide the opportunity for students to ask questions and make observations about soil and introduce students to the properties of soil and to the concept of soil profiles and horizons. After completing this activity, students will know about soil's different properties and about soil profiles. Students will know that soils have different properties including texture, color, and size. They will know that soil forms layers based on these properties.

A learning activity for the Scoop on Soils book in the Elementary GLOBE Series. Students will make predictions about what they think they will find in a sample of soil. They will investigate the sample and sort out the various items they find. Next they will spend time outside observing one or more sites to see what they find in the soil. After recording and sharing their observations they will create their own stories about the things they found in the soil. The purpose of the activity is to learn about natural things commonly found in soil and how these things impact how the soil looks and feels as well as to introduce students to the concept of decomposition. After completing this activity, students will know about various things found in soil including rocks, critters, roots, and other organic material. They will also understand that animals and microorganisms aid in the decomposition process that contributes organic materials to soils.

A learning activity for the Scoop on Soils book in the Elementary GLOBE Series. Each student will explore three activities that promote understanding of and respect for soil. They will generate responses to the following questions: "What makes up soil?" and "What lives in the soil?" Next the students will watch a demonstration of how much soil there is on Earth that is available for human use. Last they will create their own soil connection sentences. The purpose of this activity is to introduce students to the importance of soil and why it needs to be studied, to help students understand how much soil is available on Earth for human use, and to help students understand the connection between soil and how it is used by living things. After completing this activity, students will understand the importance of soil science, comprehend the relative amounts of usable soil that exists on Earth, and learn the function of soil as it pertains to animals, plants and humans.

A learning activity for the "All About Earth: Our World on Stage" book in the Elementary GLOBE series. One of the "big ideas" in Earth system science is the notion of interaction among parts of the Earth system. In the Elementary GLOBE book All About Earth: Our World on Stage, the children in Ms. Patel's class discuss instances of how the four major spheres of Earth's system interact. They symbolize these interactions by using large arrows to link the system components: air, water, soil, living things and the Sun. In this activity, students continue to explore the idea of interaction among Earth components as they identify processes in the Earth system and indicate how they illustrate an interaction between two of the Earth system components. The purpose of the activity is to help students deepen their understanding of interconnections among Earth's systems, help students to identify processes where Earth's systems are interacting, and to provide practice in the observation and recording of natural phenomena. After completing this activity, students will understand that Earth system interactions are all around them, going on all the time, and that Earth's processes are interconnected. They will learn how to make observations and identify the interactions they illustrate.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"All living things need phosphorus to survive. However, its low availability in soil is often a limiting factor for plant and microbial growth. Microorganisms in the plant root-soil interface (rhizosphere) can convert non-labile phosphorus into bioavailable forms. One way microbes do this is the mineralization of organic phosphorus compounds like phytate. Rising atmospheric CO₂ levels may accelerate mineralization, but the molecular mechanisms are not yet understood. Recent research confirmed that elevated CO₂ (eCO₂) increased the mineralization of phytate in the rhizosphere of wheat. Tracing the carbon flow showed that plants grown under eCO₂ increased the release of bioavailable carbon belowground, which corresponded to increased microbial growth and altered community composition. The bacterial community under eCO₂ favored groups of bacteria capable of degrading aromatic phosphorus compounds and the mycorrhizal fungi benefited from the increased supply of phosphorus and carbon..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.