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Preschool Science: Soil Observation

In our homeschool, we’ve been working through Day 3 of creation using Alpha Omega’s Horizons Preschool curriculum.  On the third day of creation, we know God separated the dry land from the seas and created all kinds of vegetation.  Accordingly, the curriculum is spending quite a bit of time on discussions of soil and planting, and the things plants need to live and grow.  Our planting season is all but past here, but we have been watering houseplants, and we did wander outside to investigate a soil sample for our science activity!

First, we headed out to find dirt.  This isn’t difficult at our house.  Plenty of dirt, right next to the weeds.

Then, we scooped some up in a plastic cup and examined it.  We brought it back inside to spread it on some parchment paper and observe it more closely.

The idea was to find that the soil is comprised of different things such as rock, decomposed matter, perhaps insect life, etc.  We didn’t discover too much in our soil sample as we sifted through it, however, we were able to make a scientific drawing of the soil sample using pages from My First Science Notebook.

In our drawing, we had some elaboration, some included grasses in the drawing though there was no grass present.  He knows how to draw grass, so that’s what he did!  We identified four elements within the scientific drawing to label: rocks, dirt, grass, and small rocks.  Ok, its a stretch.  But the point is to practice the skills of science, in this case Observation.  These skills are important to begin at an early age, even if they require much coaching and parental input!  Note the lines in the drawing from the labels to the item labeled.  If you squint, it kinda looks like a rabbit…  :)

That’s what we’ve been doing, head over to Preschool Corner and check out what other homeschooled preschoolers are doing this week!