Soil Variability

This resource from Northeast Community College includes an activity and presentation related to soil variability. In the activity, students use cups and a 7x7 grid to learn about the concepts of soil sampling and soil availability. The 7-page teacher's guide features an activity timeline with instructions and tips for each part of the activity, including a post-activity instruction. Also included are materials needed, learning objectives, and setup information. The 4-page student worksheet includes instructions, questions related to the activity, and a brief introduction to precision agriculture, soil variability, and soil sampling. Upon completing the activity students should be able to:

• Demonstrate different soil sampling methods and observe how data can be interpreted differently when looking at different parts of the field versus the whole
• Understand the purpose of soil sampling
• Define variability and explain some of the data we receive in soil test reports

The presentation provides background information on precision agriculture and soil availability with review questions.