Soil Discovery Essentials

Do you want to bring soil science to life at home? Our Soil Discovery Essentials pack turns learning about the underground world into an exciting adventure! 

This pack includes: The Soil Discovery Mat & Creature Cards and The Life Rocks Soil Book.

1) Soil Discovery Mat & Creature Cards:
A large hands-on learning tool with a beautifully illustrated, detailed cross-section of the soil beneath our feet. This experience is paired with 25 different soil creature cards, with integrated soil science games and activities that teach students the importance of the relationships between organisms in the soil and how these organisms are all connected through the great underground food web. 

This hands-on learning tool transforms learning about soil into a memorable and immersive experience. 

• The game mat is printed on a large neoprene mat, making it resilient to wear, tear and spills from food or drink. The creature cards have been designed to be robust and easily handled by children.

• Includes multiple games and lesson outlines that utilise the discovery mat and creature cards and are aligned to student learning outcomes from the Australian Curriculum V.9.0 for Foundations through to year 6.
  
  

2) The Life Rocks Soil Book:
This beautifully illustrated, large-format book brings soil science to life through playful rhymes where your child will meet the amazing creatures that call soil their home. Paired with real photographs and age-appropriate scientific information, this book creates the perfect bridge between storytelling and learning.

The Life Rocks Soil Book also includes a number of bonus digital resources, lesson outlines, activities and more. 

• Bean growing experiment:
  Beans are the easiest and fastest vegetable to grow at home. In this activity you will grow beans using rudimentary materials you can gather from around your home. Record the growth process in your beans in your printable bean growth journal.
  

• Hydrology, accumulation & filtration zones:
  Hydrology is the science of waters movement through landscapes, underground water and human interactions with the water table. Understanding hydrology is crucial for environmental literacy.
  Learn how water shapes the land, how ecosystems are connected and how human activities can disrupt or enhance natural processes.
  

• Beetle Anatomy Puzzle:
  Beetle anatomy is a great example of how insects adapt to thrive in soil environments.
  Learn about the anatomy of beetles with this craft exercise by cutting up illustrations of beetle parts and assembling a black, green or stag beetle from your printable bug bits worksheet.
  

• Colouring-In Sheets:
  Colouring-in pages in the back of this book, but if you want to share with your friends, you can print more using the digital files accessible via the QR code.
  
  

2. Discovery Mat and Soil Creature Cards:
   A large hands-on learning tool with a beautifully illustrated, detailed cross-section of the soil beneath our feet, printed onto durable neoprene material. This experience is paired with 25 different soil creature cards, with integrated soil science games and activities that transforms learning about soil into a memorable and immersive experience. 

Perfect for children aged 4 to 11 years old, to be used in classrooms, homeschooling, or simply nurturing your child's natural curiosity about the world beneath their feet. These engaging materials transform abstract soil concepts into tangible, memorable experiences that children will return to again and again.

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BENEFITS FOR PARENTS

• Simplify soil science:
  Parents don’t need to be experts in soil science to share a learning experience with their children. With the Soil Discovery Essentials pack, the included activities, lesson outlines, games and activities turn learning from a chore into an adventure.
  

• Diversify Storytime:
  Sharing stories with your children doesn’t need to be just bedtime stories; it can become an immersive, educational, and memorable experience. 

 

BENEFITS FOR STUDENTS

• Interactive learning experiences:
  Students love exploring soil layers and organisms with our hands-on soil activities and games that make learning an adventure.
  

• Skill development:
  In addition to learning about soil, we’ve crafted our content to develop critical thinking and collaborative problem-solving as kids work together to complete experiments and explore soil ecosystems.

• A connection to the environment:
  By understanding the importance of soil, students will cultivate a deeper appreciation for the natural world and gain insight into why healthy soil is so crucial.