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Grades 1–3. Uncover the origins of dirt, distinguish between dirt and soil, explore the roles of a soil engineer, investigate global practices of using dirt and soil for dyeing clothes and constructing homes, and plant a mini cat grass farm. In a multi-subject integration approach, learners collaborate, engineer, and reflect, gaining a holistic understanding of the importance of soil. Comes complete with curriculum and materials for 30 students.

Product Details
Make Like a Mole and Dig into Dirt Camp
Grades 1–3. Roll up your sleeves and dig into the fascinating world beneath our feet. Uncover the origins of dirt and distinguish between dirt and soil. Explore the roles of a soil engineer by digging like a mole and building like a beaver. Investigate global practices of using dirt and soil for dyeing clothes and constructing homes. Plant your very own mini cat grass farm and witness the interconnectedness of trees through an underground network of fungi. In a multi-subject integration approach, learners collaborate, engineer, and reflect, gaining a holistic understanding of the importance of soil.

Product Features

• Complete program includes materials and curriculum
• Designed for up to 30 students
• Includes 12 one-hour activities
• Refill kit available (item #315633R)

Curriculum Topics:
1. Characteristics of Dirt
2. Where Does Dirt Come From?
3. Dirt vs. Soil
4. Weathering
5. Animal Soil Engineers Above and Below Ground
6. Bug Hunt: Tunnelers, Decomposers, and Hunters
7. The Wood Wide Web and Fungi
8. Dying with Mud
9. Building with Dirt
10. Plant a Mini Cat Grass Farm

Each Activity Includes:

• Schedule
• Topic background information
• Step-by-step directions
• Optional extension activities
• Materials list

Recommended Settings:

• Summer camps
• Classrooms
• Out-of-school time programs

Tech Requirements:

• Optional: A computer and projector to share the activity tutorial videos

Professional Development:

• Includes a free 1/2-hour webinar orientation when your purchase totals $500+
• Includes a free 1-hour webinar orientation when your purchase totals $1,000+
• Additional training available for purchase by special request

21st-Century Skills:
Helps students develop a set of widely applicable abilities essential for success in the information age.

• Communication and collaboration
• Creativity and innovation
• Critical thinking and problem solving
• Flexibility and adaptability
• Information, media, and technology literacy
• Initiative and self-direction
• Leadership and responsibility
• Productivity and accountability
• Social and cross-cultural skills

Standards Alignments:
Common Core State Standards for Mathematics

• CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.1.G.A.2: Compose 2-dimensional shapes (rectangles, squares, trapezoids, triangles, half-circles, and quarter-circles) or 3-dimensional shapes (cubes, right rectangular prisms, right circular cones, and right circular cylinders) to create a composite shape, and compose new shapes from the composite shape.
• CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.2.G.A.1: Recognize and draw shapes having specified attributes, such as a given number of angles or a given number of equal faces. Identify triangles, quadrilaterals, pentagons, hexagons, and cubes.

Next Generation Science Standards*

• K-2-ETS1-1: Engineering Design
• K-2-ETS1-2: Engineering Design
• K-2-ETS1-3: Engineering Design
• 3-5-ETS1-1: Engineering Design
• K-ESS2-2: Humans and their Environment
• K-LS1-1: Energy Flow in Organisms
• 1-LS1-1: Structure and Function
• 1-LS1-2: Growth and Development
• 2-LS4-1: Biodiversity
• 2-PS1-1: Investigating Properties of Matter
• 2-PS1-2: Analyzing Properties of Matter
• 3-PS2-2: Forces and Motion
• LS1.A: Structure and Function
• LS2.A: Interdependent Relationships
• 3-LS2-1: Ecosystem Interactions
• 3-LS4-3: Adaptation
• 3-LS4-4: Ecosystem Dynamics
• Core Idea ESS1.C: The History of Planet Earth
• Core Idea ESS2.A: Earth's Materials and Systems
• Core Idea ESS2.C: The Roles of Water in Earth's Surface Processes
• Core Idea LS1.A: Structure and Function
• Core Idea LS2.C: Ecosystem Dynamics
• Core Idea LS4.C: Adaptation
• Core Idea PS1.A: Structure and Properties of Matter
• Core Idea PS1.B: Chemical Reactions