2-ESS2-1I can develop and compare solutions that reduce wind or water erosion.
K-2-ETS1-3I can test two solutions to the same problem and compare strengths and weaknesses.

Grade 1 Social Studies book, p. 100–101Grade 2 Social Studies book, p. 100–101

Session 1, Read and notice: Water does not stop at a line

Week 30 big question: Which soil cover works better in our fair test?

Start with a story (optional) Decision — Read it hereSupporting match · When the village tap runs dry, neighbors meet and decide to work together.

Two countries work as a team to keep the Great Lakes safe.

Trace the line between Canada and the United States on a map. Now find the Great Lakes, whose waters the two countries share. The line splits the countries, but it cannot stop the water. In 1972, they signed the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement. Through this cooperation, they work together to protect those waters. They also work to make them healthy again. Because the problem is shared, the two nations share facts to help them act.

Each person at the garden has a need.

Now step into a story about a small community garden. When rain washes soil downhill, it leaves mud where people want to walk. Gardeners want their plants to grow, while walkers need a clear path. A neighbor wants to keep muddy water from flowing farther downhill. Since these needs are linked, the group must think about each one. Whose need would you speak about first?

Learn about the problem, then choose what to do.

The group could cover the bare soil with leaves or small stones. Leaves may be easy to find, but stones may be heavier to carry. That effort is a cost, something a choice uses up or gives up. The group weighs this cost against the benefits of each cover. For a fair choice, the group also considers facts and each person’s part. It cannot make a deal between nations like the Great Lakes agreement. But it can begin the same way, learning before choosing what to do.

Look and think

Show what you notice

Why might Canada and the United States work together on the Great Lakes?
What needs should the garden group think about?

Answer your waypointact it outtell or dictatewrite

Grade 1 Science book, p. 90–92Grade 2 Science book, p. 113–115

In your book

Session 2, Investigate: Protection needs a fair comparison

A cover on soil may slow erosion.

How did soil from a slope end up on the path? Rain can strike bare soil, then wash it down the hill. We call this movement erosion, and a cover may help slow it. Leaves or small stones can soften falling drops. They can also slow water flowing over the soil. This runoff, or water that flows off, may carry soil with it. When that soil settles, we can see some of what moved. The water’s color can fool us, though, because leaves may stain it. Dark water alone cannot tell us how much soil washed away. Our fair test compares leaf and stone covers. We keep the same soil, slope, tray, and water. Which cover will help keep the soil in place?

Set up the test

Gather two matching shallow trays · equal damp soil · dry leaves · small clean stones · two matching clear collection cups · measuring cup · ruler · support block

Safety An adult positions trays securely over collection cups. Keep soil and stones away from mouths, and wash hands. Discard muddy water outdoors in an approved place, not a sink.

Fill two matching trays with the same soil, tilted the same. Cover A with leaves and B with stones.Adult: Cover the same area in each tray.
Guess which tray will lose less soil. Pour 100 milliliters on each, the same way.Adult: Pour from the same height over five seconds. Catch all runoff in matching cups.
Wait ten minutes. Look at the settled soil in each cup. Do not judge by color alone.Adult: Also note runoff amount and channels. Reset with fresh, equal soil and test both again.
Compare what you found. Improve one cover and test again. Say so if it is a tie.

Try the model

A model to try after your real test.

Getting the model ready…

Grade 1 Social Studies book, p. 102Grade 1 Science book, p. 93 and 95Grade 2 Social Studies book, p. 102Grade 2 Science book, p. 116 and 119

A small shared-place decision

Use your test to help the garden group in the story. You may pick a cover, or find you need one more test.

Draw a map with a slope, a garden, and a path. Label what nature made and what people made. Show where runoff went.
Everyone can share an idea, and everyone listens. Name one benefit and one cost of each cover.Adult: Each person may point, draw, tell, or write.
Choose a cover using your results and the reading. Name one thing you are not sure of. Find Canada and the United States from memory.Adult: Then check the map together. Add this month’s real daylight record to the year log.

Connect the ideas. A fair test and a fair chance to speak can help with the same choice. How?

Look closely

Tap a picture to make it big. Zoom in and find the clues.

Color photograph: the Colorado River makes a deep horseshoe-shaped bend around a tall rock, far below steep orange canyon walls. — PhotographColorado River at Horseshoe Bend, Arizona, 2023Charles Wang · CC BY-SA 4.0

Color photograph: a rain test on a table with two metal trays under clear boxes that drip water. The left tray is covered with dry plant pieces and the right tray is bare soil. Below, the left catch box holds clear water and the right box holds muddy brown water. — PhotographRain test: covered and bare soil, 2012USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, South Dakota · Public domain

Color photograph: a bare brown field where rain has washed a pale sandy channel across the soil. Green crops and palm trees grow in the distance. — PhotographSoil washed by rain, Puerto Rico, 2019Samuel Rios, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service · Public domain

Watch and wonder

Where rain goesShort animated explainer ErosionShort animated explainer

Field trip

Visit with a grown-up. These open other websites in a new tab.

Grade 1 Social Studies book, p. 103Grade 1 Science book, p. 94Grade 2 Social Studies book, p. 103Grade 2 Science book, p. 117

My evidence page: Our evidence for protecting soil

Write down what both covers did. Show your better design. Pick one cover, or tell why you need more tests.

1A and B evidence
2Change and choice

3Choose and explain · Checkpoint game

Listen, then choose. Finish the game to earn this week’s stamp.

The game needs JavaScript turned on.

For the adult · what each grade shows

Grade 1

Show one right and one duty in a group choice, and which cover lost less soil in your test.

Grade 2

Explain which cover you would choose, using two trials, a benefit, and a cost.

Showing the Grade 1 line for your book.

Showing the Grade 2 line for your book.

Take a photo of the evidence page or the test. Add your child’s own words. It stays on this device.

Add to my portfolio

Parent corner

How to run this week, in a few minutes.

At a glance

Time: From the workbook: Read and notice about 20 min · Investigate 20–30 min, plus short checks · Record and make 20–30 min.
Core: Run a fair test of two soil covers, and name a right and a duty in a group choice.
Materials: two matching shallow trays
equal damp soil
dry leaves
small clean stones
two matching clear collection cups
measuring cup
ruler
support block
Safety: An adult positions trays securely over collection cups. Keep soil and stones away from mouths, and wash hands. Discard muddy water outdoors in an approved place, not a sink.
Short week: Read together, then do Investigate steps 1–4, Make steps 2–3 and the evidence page.

Next week

Check daylight dates, place, and method. Retrieve three Great Lakes names now; use the map to correct rather than conceal errors.

Library books

A Cool Drink of Water by Barbara Kerley. Photos show people around the world finding water.
Dirt: The Scoop on Soil by Natalie M. Rosinsky. Explains soil and how to keep it healthy.

Answer key (for grown-ups)

Talk together

Why might Canada and the United States work together on the Great Lakes?
Shared water connects the countries; each nation’s actions can affect it. The 1972 agreement provides a real cooperation example, distinct from the invented garden decision.
What needs should the garden group think about?
Consider plant growth, usable paths, downstream water, effort, and materials. The right to contribute accompanies listening and responsibility; agreement need not mean every preference wins.

What to expect in the investigation

Either solution may perform better. Settled sediment and channels provide evidence; leaf-stained water alone does not. Different runoff volumes complicate layer comparisons, so retain all runoff, note volumes, and use identical cups. Repeat unclear trials; never supply invented measurements. This compares two protections, not either cover against bare soil. Dark water alone is not a good measure, since leaves can stain water. Repeating the test gives stronger evidence. A small tray is not every hill or storm, but it can help choose a change to test. Do not just pick the nicer-looking tray.

Checkpoint question

Choice A. Ask which changed condition would make the outcome hard to interpret.

Kindergarten this weekSocial Studies: Believed, acted, happened Science: Our weather year