FIELDS OF DREAMS // Lesson plan

DATE                  9/25/94
NEWSPAPER             THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
SECTION               NEWS
EDITION               MORNING
PAGE                  L08
STORY LENGTH          25 INCHES
HEADLINE              FIELDS OF DREAMS // Lesson plan
BYLINE/CREDIT         DAN FROOMKIN:The Orange County Register
SUBJECT TERMS         OC:COLLEGES:FACULTY:CENTRAL 
                         AMERICA:LAND:AGRICULTURE:RESEARCH:PLANTS:BIOLOGY
 .
  Here are some simple experiments that elementary-school students can
  do at home or in class to learn more about soil and erosion. Older
  students can learn more about water pollution in Lesson 3.

  One: What is soil?
     Dig up soil from different places, enough to fill a big plastic
  cup or similar container. Pick one place where there are no plants,
  another that's covered in grass, and another that's under trees or
  bushes.
     Pour out each soil sample -- one at a time -- onto a large piece
  of construction paper. Touch it. Look at it through a magnifying
  glass. Sort it out. How much is dirt, bits of leaves, rocks or
  living things? Write down what you find.
     Mix everything back together in the separate containers and
  sprinkle each with water. Make sure you remember which container is
  which! Then water the containers every other day, and watch what happens.
  What's growing in each one? Add other things if you want -- bugs or
  rocks or seeds. Keep watching to see what happens.

  Two: What is erosion?
     Get some potting soil, little pebbles, grass seeds, a straw, a
  plastic cup and an aluminum-foil cake pan.
     Put some soil in the cup and plant the grass seeds. Make sure
  they get water and sunlight, and let them grow for a week or two.
     Pour enough soil into the pan to make a mountain in the middle.
  Spread the pebbles around the mountain, then plant the grass you've
  grown on one side of it. Take your straw and blow on both sides of
  the mountain. Watch what happens.
     Use a wet sponge to make a rainstorm move over the pan. What
  happens to the pebbles and the soil?
     Watch how the water runs down the mountain. Is it carrying some
  of the dirt with it? Do you see it forming channels? Have you seen
  other examples of erosion on hillsides in your community?

  Three: How clear is the water?
     In areas that have been deforested, scientists measure changes
  in the turbidity of the water -- how muddy or cloudy it is -- to see
  how badly rivers and lakes have been polluted by erosion.
     To test the turbidity of bodies of water in your area, get a
  clear plastic tube or cylinder at least a yard long. Or look for
  one at your local hardware store. Make or find a water-tight
  stopper for one end of your "turbidity tube."
     The tube end that will touch the water needs to be white, so
  paint it white if necessary. In the middle of the stopper, you'll
  need a black dot about 5mm in diameter (like this one: ). Either
  paint it on or make one out of plastic and glue it on.
     Now, go with an adult to take water samples. Is there a creek in
  the area? A lake?
     It doesn't matter what you use to collect the water -- a clean
  bucket will do. Take the samples from underneath the surface if
  possible, but not too close to the bottom that you kick up
  sediment. Get enough water to fill the tube.
     Pour the water in a bit at a time. When you can't see the dot
  anymore, carefully measure how high the water level is. The height
  at which you can no longer see the dot is a valid, scientific
  measure of turbidity.
     Take several more water samples and compare them to each other.
  Look at what is clouding up the water. Is it mud? Algae?
     Keep a record of your findings. Try to get one set of samples
  before it rains, and another after. Is the water after it rains
  muddier?

  Acknowledgements: Frank John, science teacher, Esperanza High
  School; "Using Land," published by Scholastic Inc.

  (SIDEBAR)
     Want to learn more?
  Lynn Carpenter recommends: "Tropical Rainforest: A World Survey of
  Our Most Valuable Endangered Habitat with a Blueprint for Its
  Survival," by Arnold Newman. Publisher: Facts On File, Inc., NY.

  Online:
     The Rainforest Action Network, a San Francisco-based
  environmental group, maintains a gopher of information about the
  rain forest. Point your gopher to gopher.igc.apc.org or follow the
  menus from California to Institute for Global Communications. Go to
  Organizations on the IGC Gopher, then Rainforest Action Network.
  For information about the network, send short E-mail to
  ran-info@econet.apc.org