Aberdeen Environmental Education Centre (AEEC), working in co-operation with the Royal Highland Education Trust and the Macaulay Institute, has developed a new learning and teaching unit for schools in Aberdeen City aimed at pupils in the Primary 6 to Secondary 2 age range.
Understanding Soil aims to:
• support the teaching of elements of the 5-14 curriculum guidelines through a study of the natural environment
• develop pupils’ understanding of interdependence
• introduce the importance of conservation and recycling
• develop skills in science through participation in first-hand investigations
• foster caring attitudes towards living things and the natural environment
• develop an awareness of social and environmental responsibility

Through taking part in learning and teaching programmes devised by AEEC, the Ranger Services, or as follow up to a farm or a ‘Countryside Classroom on Wheels’ visit, pupils become more aware of soil and its importance.

The classroom-based experiments contained in Understanding Soil give pupils the opportunity to extend their knowledge through practical investigations into:
• soil compaction
• soil acidity
• soil constituents
• recycling and
• life in the soil
The experiments are best conducted over a day in school, with one half of the class working during the morning session and the remainder in the afternoon.
The pupils’ normal classroom area is not suitable as a venue to carry out the experiments. A clear open space with 10 tables and enough chairs to accommodate a half class is required. Access to water is essential.

The learning and teaching resources of Understanding Soil link directly with:
• Environmental Studies: Society, Science & Technology
• Mathematics
• Language
• Expressive Arts
• Health Education
Pupils work in groups directed by experiment sheets. Three example sheets from the series of simple experiments may be downloaded, see below.
Soil - What is in it?
pdf 192kb
Soil Compaction
pdf 424kb
Soil Spaces : Experiment 1
pdf 180kb