Soil Superheroes

 

STUDENTS WILL BE ABLE TO:
- Identify characteristics of decomposers.
- Explain importance of microorganisms in soil.

GUIDING QUESTION: What lives in soil?

MATERIALS:
- Computers with Internet access and/or books with information about soil organisms
- Art supplies
- Poster board

CLASS ACTIVITIES:
1. In pairs, students should choose one soil organism to research. They can select an organism that they found in their soil sample the previous day; however, there are many fascinating soil organisms too small for students to see, and so it can help to provide a list of additional organisms for students to choose from. Interesting organisms include:

• Springtails
  
• Earwigs
  
• Nematodes
  
• Spiders/Arthropods
  
• Bacteria
  
• Mycorrhizal fungi
  
• Protozoa
  
• Earthworms
  
• Microbiotic crusts (not one single organism, but a crucial soil component in some areas, particularly arid lands)
  
• Mites
  
• Other insects

2. The National Resource Conservation Service has a helpful website on soil biological communities for students to start their research, and can be found at http://www.blm.gov/nstc/soil/index.html. A more simplified website (easier to read but less informative) is at http://www.blm.gov/nstc/soil/Kids/incred.html.
3. After identifying key characteristics of their organisms, students should spend the rest of the class period creating a poster showing the organism as a superhero. The poster should have a large central picture of the organism, with functions in catchy phrases. (You may want to introduce/review the literary term hyperbole.) For instance, rather than saying "Organism X is a shredder," students may write "Shreds faster than a lawnmower on steroids!" Statements should explain the organism's role in the soil cycle and highlight specific adaptations.