Project Hero Soil Quest - Uncover: Plants, Animals, & Soil

• With this activity, students will learn about the important role carbon from plants and animals plays in healthy soil, how plants use photosynthesis to capture carbon dioxide, and how that carbon is moved into soil. 
• This resource includes an outdoor activity, reading passage, videos, and writing prompts. 

Positives

• This resource is a great overview on how plants, animals, and soils are all interconnected. 
• The flow of writing, videos, and student activities is well planned and engaging. 

Additional Prerequisites

• There are additional referenced materials available to help support student understanding by clicking the book icon on the right side.
  

Differentiation

• Cross-curricular connections can be made in language arts classes that are working on scientific writing or journals, as the questions at the end lend themselves well to expanded writing skills. 
• This resource lends itself well to a "KWL" chart. Chart what students know about how plants, animals, and soil are connected in the "K" (for know) section before beginning. Have students chart their questions before and during in the "W" (for wonder) section. At the end of the lesson, have students chart what they learned in the "L" section (for learned). 
• Other related resources include this video about the importance of soil, this lesson about soil, and this video about how amazing soil is. 

The material emphasizes the functions of trees as a net carbon sink and how carbon is stored in the soil for bacteria, thus improving soil health. Additionally, it provides a basic description of the carbon cycle and the relationships between soil, plants, animals, the atmosphere, and microbes. This is suggested for classroom use.