EARTH STEWARDSHIP PROJECT

2019

The initial stages of the project is associated with students taking account of the soil in their community and its vitality as a means to grow crops.

Soil is a mixture of clay, silt, sand and organic material.  The composition of these substances determines soil composition and overall density.
It is important that students begin to scientifically evaluate the quality of the soil within the community.
Soil quality is critical not only for the production of food and also for dealing effectively with climate change.

Analysis of soil quality begins with both percent composition and resulting density.  Students will designate three locations outside the building and then begin to collect samples at each location.  

A. Enough mass of soil at each location is collected so each student can accumulate and test three 90 ml samples of soil.

B. Also students need to collect enough soil to fill at least three glass jars half-full so they can add another half-full of water and mix up the entire suspended mixture.  As the substances in the glass jars settle out they will move into specific layers (clay, silt, sand and organic matter).

The mass of soil in each cup (90ml) is measured to the nearest tenth of a gram of mass.
Knowing the volume and mass of each cup, students will be able to calculate the density of soil in each cup.  An average density is determined from analyzing these three cups.

• Students working in groups of 3 to 4 persons will collaborate, share their findings and determine an overall classroom density of soil.
• Good soil densities can range from 0.9  to 1.3 grams/ml.
• Students will be able to compare their findings of density of local soils to the range of known good soil densities.
• Once students become knowledgeable of soil densities they can create their own superior soil density samples.  These designed samples can be tested by planting basil and vegetables and allowing them to grow and prosper within their soils

Therefore there are many opportunities for students to investigate, test, analyze and create.  With knowledge and information comes power and increased self-efficacy of all students.  Students begin to think out of the box and pursue solutions to regenerate the soil in their community. Since students know the composition of good soils and they can look at environmental and societal impacts upon the soil in our community.

Students will begin to promote square foot gardening as the means to increase the urban agriculture to help support the community's food resilience into a climate change threatening future.  Square foot gardening at the local level is an essential final stage of this project to implement what has been learned and discovered and creating a viable productive facility to grow food.  Students can help manage the garden and they can continue to perform scientific studies and work to maximize the growth of these plants.