Dig a hole
In this activity, students use a picture book and/or dig a hole to learn more about soil, observation and inference in science.
By the end of this activity, students should be able to:
make observations about what they see in the picture book
make inferences about what they think is happening in the picture book
use their senses of sight and touch to make observations about soil from the playground
make inferences about the soil based on their observations.
Similar but different
These three soils have much in common, but they differ in colour and mineral content.
Download the Word file (see link below) for:
introduction/background notes
what you need
what to do
extension ideas.
Nature of Science
Science knowledge is based on observations of the natural physical world. Scientists make inferences and draw conclusions from these observations.
Related content
The article Observation and science explores the role of observation in greater detail.
For an extension idea, try the activity Visual soil assessment – this involves digging up a 20 cm cube of soil to examine the soil structure and porosity and look for earthworms.
In our recorded webinar Science through picturebooks we explore the power of picture books to support children's development of science concepts and capabilities.
