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Start Here You Can Do This Small Steps → Real Change Welcome to Resilient Roots You don’t need perfect conditions to grow something meaningful. You just need a starting point—and a plan you can actually follow. This guide helps you choose a first project (or a next project) based on your space, your energy, and your goals—food, habitat, healing plants, restoration, or simple daily peace. Sustainable Gardening Urban Innovations Mindful Spaces Eco-Restoration Junior Naturalist Resource Hub Rowan’s Resilience Tip The fastest way to build confidence is to complete one small project that works. Start tiny. Notice what changes. Then build from there. Quick Pick: What are you here for? Grow food & stretch groceries • Garden in a small space • Create a calming, healing space • Fix a proble...
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Growers Lab: The Percolation Test, Measuring How Your Soil Drinks

Growers Lab: Measuring How Your Soil Drinks (Grades 4–6)

How quickly does water move through soil? Why do some landscapes flood while others absorb rain easily? In this standards-aligned STEAM investigation, students conduct a percolation test to measure soil absorption rates, analyze data, and design improvements to reduce runoff.

Upper elementary student scooping soil into container to test percolation rate during STEM investigation
Measuring soil absorption helps students connect science to real-world erosion and flooding issues.

Soil STEAM Pathways (One Big Idea • Three Age Levels)

Choose the best entry point for your learners — then revisit this unit as skills grow.

Quick Look

  • Time: 45–60 minutes
  • Prep: 10–15 minutes
  • Mess Level: Medium (outdoor trays recommended)
  • Group Size: Pairs or small groups

Learning Goals

  • Compare how quickly different soils absorb water
  • Collect and record timed data across multiple trials
  • Represent results with graphs
  • Explain cause-and-effect relationships (particle size, compaction, organic matter)
  • Propose an engineering solution to reduce runoff

Materials

  • Clear jars or cups
  • 3 soil types (sand, garden soil, compacted soil)
  • Water (100 mL per trial)
  • Timer
  • Ruler
  • Notebook or printable data sheet

Procedure

Engage: If the same rain falls on loose soil and packed soil, where does the water go? Have students write a prediction.

Explore:

  • Fill containers with equal soil depth (8–10 cm).
  • Pour 100 mL water into each sample.
  • Start timer.
  • Record time until surface water disappears.
  • Repeat for 3 trials.

Explain:

  • Discuss pore space and particle size.
  • Define percolation and infiltration.
  • Analyze averages across trials.

Elaborate (Engineering Challenge): How could we change soil or land surfaces to reduce runoff?

  • Add compost
  • Add mulch
  • Plant groundcover
  • Design a small rain garden basin

Evaluate:

  • Completed data sheet
  • Bar graph
  • CER explanation (Claim–Evidence–Reasoning)
  • Engineering improvement proposal

Standards Alignment

NGSS 5-ESS2-1: Develop a model describing interactions between Earth systems.

NGSS 3-5-ETS1-2: Generate and compare solutions to a problem based on criteria and constraints.

CCSS Math 5.MD.B: Represent and interpret data.

CCSS ELA 4–5: Write explanatory texts using evidence.

ISTE 1.4.a: Students use a deliberate design process to test and improve solutions.

Connecting to Real Soil Systems

Healthy soil is more than dirt. It is a living system. Before or after this lab, teachers may wish to explore:

These connections help students see soil as a complex, interconnected Earth system rather than just a test material.

Differentiate by Age

Extend Online

Students can compare their results with other classrooms and explore interactive rainfall tools here:

🌧 Online Interactive Soil STEAM Extensions

Download the Full 5-Page Teacher Lesson Plan

Includes printable data sheets, differentiation guide, and full assessment rubric.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does compacted soil increase flooding?

Compaction reduces pore space, limiting infiltration and increasing runoff.

How does organic matter improve soil absorption?

Organic matter improves soil structure, increases pore spaces, and supports soil organisms that maintain healthy structure.

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Rowan Sage is the founder of Resilient Roots, an environmental education platform focused on ecological restoration and nature-based resilience strategies. Based in Minnesota, Sage writes about soil health, watershed restoration, innovative gardening solutions, sustainable landscapes, gardening for wellness, and garden-based learning for children

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