Dirt Made Our Snack

Yes, that's right. Our Friday snack was dirt. It was dirt of the chocolate pudding, Cool Whip, crushed Oreo cookies, and gummy worm type. We topped off our week with a little soil celebration to connect the consistencies and properties of real soil to those of the pudding and crumbled Oreo treat. The children weathered (crushed) the Oreos to mimic the effects of weathering of rocks and other components found in soil. We connected the treat our compost bags by adding a gummy worm to the creation.We had some great moms to send in supplies and more who came to lend a helping hand. It was such a fun time that one sweet kiddo asked if he could lick the spoon. (I said no.)

Can you tell the treat from the real thing? :)

   

Here's a cute song that my students loved to sing along to while we were digging in the dirt:

It's by the Banana Slug Band.

One of our lessons focused on the reaction of water with different types of soil. So, we made mud balls. Talk about a fun mess! Here are some pictures of our mud balls before placing them into our Mud Ball Museum.

The kids had a blast making compost bags. I thought I'd amuse them with a little joke, so, in my most serious face, I said, "Boys and girls, I have a confession. (long pause) I have worms." Their response? Shrieks and cheers. Apparently, and thank goodness, my kiddos have no idea of the other meaning of having worms. So, the joke was on me. 

After a good hand scrubbing to protect the critters, partners observed our new friends. I wanted the children to feel the setae on the bottom of them. They're tickly and fun, and also an important adaptation for these invertebrates. We wrapped it up with adding the earthworms, soil that the students brought from their backyards, a few bits of leftovers from lunch, and some objects like a paper clip, a stubby pencil, a penny and an eraser. We'll compare our 'with worms' bags to one that has no worms to see how earthworms turn soil, make tunnels, and nibble on decomposing organic matter.

This mud ball activity is a part of The Great American Soil Project.