Class Session #15: Ecological Generosity

01. Ecological Generosity! - 25 MIN

1. Highlight: Worms are vital to everything we grow and eat!
2. Engage–Ask: What is one thing worms do to help our vegetables grow? [Invite responses.]
3. Explore–Read: Read We Dig Worms! by Kevin McCloskey. Guide students to respond to the questions in the handout below as they listen to the book.
4. Draw: Guide students in drawing the “Map of the Worm” picture from the book.
5. Explain–Discuss: Discuss student responses to the handout below.

02. Ecological Generosity! - 25 MIN

1. Highlight: Soil can also be studied with our eyes and hands!
2. Elaborate—Group Work: Guide students to share a small paper cup of soil from their yard at home or other outdoor location. Invite students to put on provided plastic gloves and spread out the soil onto their paper towels. Instruct students to study the soil and to record in the handout below what “ingredients” may be included in each group member’s soil. Put the soil back into cups. Pour ½ cup of water over the soil. Ask if students see bubbles coming from the soil. Ask what they think this might be.
3. Evaluate–Discuss: Ask students to identify similarities and differences found across group members’ different cups of soil. Do the ingredients look different or the same?

[Soil ingredients might include organic matter: sand, silt, clay] [Bubbles are pockets of air embedded in the soil that come out with water.]