Types of Soil
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http://soil.gsfc.nasa.gov/index.html Name: NASA
Soil Science Education This site is HUGE, but it does its best to partition it into logical sections. This site will literally be your one-stop shop for everything related to soil. The site basically starts with an examination of soil basics, which include discussions on types of soil, soil formation, soil categorization, and soil fertility. There’s even a really interesting section where you can view nice pictures of soil samples from different US states. Once you have the basics down, the site has other sections on soil & society, soil & environment, soil & students, soil & agriculture, and working with soil. Within every major section, there are tons of resources, learning activities, lab suggestions, and soil trivia that both teachers and all students will enjoy finding. The site even has an interesting section on news articles in which soil was the issue. As mentioned above, this site is HUGE. What helps is the always-present menu that can bring you to any of the above-mentioned major sections. The site contains very easy language to understand and plenty of pictures and clipart that help liven up this large site. There are tons of interactive activities, games, and lab projects that accompany the concepts in the text. There are tons of links to other resources that deal specifically with Soil Science. This has to be one of the most complete sites on Soil Science suitable for both teachers and all students. |
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DiscoverySchool.com This site contains complete lesson plans for studying Earth Sciences at any level from K-12, including objectives and suggestions for evaluation in each lesson plan. Teachers can look forward to lesson plans on Earth’s surface, geological phenomena, oceans, weather, and tectonic plates, but this is by no means a complete list of lesson plans that can be found on this site. If that wasn’t good enough, many of the lesson plans even contain suggestions for adapting the lesson for different grade levels. This is hands-down one of the best resources for all teachers, and not just Science teachers. The site is colourful and well laid out. All sections of the site are accessible from the always-present menu. Some of the important concepts even have sound files attached to them so that you can listen to its pronunciation. This site is mainly geared towards teachers. |
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Name:
The
Geological Society of America This site contains complete lesson plans for studying Earth Sciences at any level from K-12, including any required worksheets. Lesson plans are organized by specific topics in Earth Sciences. The section on rocks and minerals is impressive on its own. Lessons for each topic are also further subdivided by grade level. Most lessons appear to be lab-based and very hands-on. Finally, there are literally tons of links to other educational resources within each topic. This is another amazing resource for teachers, but definitely geared towards Science teachers only. The site is colourful and well laid out. There are so many lesson plans and resources that are listed that the site even provides a handy function to sort by topic or age group. If that wasn’t enough, the site also provides suggestions for readings and class discussions of critical issues. This site is mainly geared towards teachers. |