The Earth Between Our Toes ... 

and In Our Fingernails

Soil Separation

Collecting Samples

In honor of planting our prairie seed this week, I thought it appropriate to share some muddy moments from our year. If you remember we studying Pebbles, Rocks and Silt this past winter. This was a beautifully integrated study with our K-6 Prairie Restoration Project along with individual inquiry about geology, archeology and of course...worms!

                                             

                                                                    We Dig Up the Best Dirt

Students engaged in a variety of activites throughout their year at Willowwind involving mud. We harvested in the fall at Echolective Farm with our friend Derek, worked with Ms. Christine to prepare our garden for planting, and we planned the beginning stages of our Prairie Restoration. This was the most challenging as we had to determine the best plants for our soil, and then... where the Prairie should start for environmental, aesthetic  and social (playing hide and seek) benefits. 

Dirty Hands are a must for the best learning!

In class our Morning Meetings were full of discussions about dinosaur bones, geodes from Colorado and India, and ram, horse and bird skulls found in Iowa. During science we learned all about soil erosion, various types of soil textures such as sticky clay and gritty sand or smooth soil across the world, and experimented in soil separation experiments. Of course, science would not be complete without applying our various knowledges to creative writing. Friends spent many hours as the voice of worms and beetles in their Soil Adventure writing that started in February...some are still writing the adventure today as they learn more and brainstorm a variety of ideas. 

Mixing the Soil

The different rocks that we studied include  scoria, tuff and basalt. Friends discovered the layers of soil starting with pebbles, sand, silt, rotted organic material and organic earth layers. We enjoyed sifting and sorting the various types of rock before we tested their weight and separation abilities. 

We found a butterfly in dewy spot of the garden....another important purpose for protecting our soil.

Friends discovered that the best way to prevent wind erosion in the Plain States is to use mulch, burlap and plants to protect the soil. They also read about tillage and why that is important in mixing old plant materials with the new. We found ways to create wind breaks with plants, and discovered that gully, and sheet erosion often lead to flooding! Did you know that we lost 6.4 million tons of soil per year due to erosion, and development? 

WORMS!

Geodes

Recording Data
We are fantastic scientistic observers


Hopefully friends plan to make further discoveries in the dirt as they play at the beach, travel the world and hang out in Iowa