Ward's® Soils and Isopach Mapping Lab Activity

Use Real Soil Samples to Analyze Soil Formation and Classify Soil

• Materials for 30 students
• Teach students about the formation of soils

Take students on a field trip without leaving the classroom! Students get practical geological field experience by studying and analyzing data and samples from the Wood River Quadrangle in Illinois and Missouri. Students also learn to think like geologists, applying the field evidence gathered to make decisions regarding economic and environmental land use. The lab activity comes with all the materials you need to outfit a class of thirty students.
Students test, evaluate, and classify actual soil samples from the Wood River quadrangle to learn about soil types and how soil is formed. They also construct an isopach map using loess thickness information, and use their results to address questions about land use applications.

 : Kit includes eight natural soil samples, sediment comparator cards, one Wood River quadrangle map, acid bottles, testing trays, copymasters for student activities, and a teacher’s guide. Additional copies of the topographic map may be purchased separately.