Have students complete this activity as a journaling activity or as a quick writing response on an index card.

Ask students to describe 3 ways that soil affects their lives.

Responses may include any of the following:

• Provides nutrients for the plants we eat.
  
• Holds water for plants and animals.
  
• Regulates flow of water into streams and rivers.
  
• Provides foundation for buildings.
  
• Provides habitat for organisms that decompose organic material to add nutrients to the soil and prevent dead plant and animal matter from piling up.
  
• Filters chemicals and pollutants out of water to keep it from contaminating drinking water and rivers.
  

…And many more!

​Students may expand on each item with 2-3 sentences.

At the end of the soil unit, in order to demonstrate understanding of the concepts of soil texture and infiltration, soil biology, pH, and erosion, the students should be able to give a first person account of an earthworm’s journey through soil. They can document this journey in a number of ways, but should include 2 ‐3 vocabulary words from each section.

The narrative should answer: Where are you at the beginning of your story? Where are you going and why? What do you see? What do you feel? What adventures happen to you? What do you find when you reach your destination?

Possible forms for this narrative:
A story
Rap song
Comic strip