Additional Resources

Three levels: upper elementary, middle school, high school. The manuals are available for download by youth and adults online at Purdue Extension’s The Education Store. Enter “Soil and Water Science” in the Store Search box.

Soil Water Science

Purdue Extension Edu Store

18 activities, including: Measuring Soil and Water pH; Testing Soils for Aluminum Toxicity; Soil has a Charge; Chemical Movement in Soils; Soil Colors; Clay Properties; Soil Erosion; Earthworm Activity and Biology; Preserving Soil Monoliths and Specimens in Vinyl Plastic.

Demonstrations in Soil Science

The Midwest Cover Crop Council is a community that facilitates the sharing of cover crop knowledge within the Midwest and beyond. Click the link to find more about the organization and the resources they offer.

Midwest Cover Crops Council

The Natural Resources Conservation Service is a United States Department of Agriculture(USDA) organization that helps farmers, ranchers, and landowners with a variety of farming and technical services and resources. Click the link to learn more and to see the resource that they offer.

Natural Resources Conservation Service

The Purdue Extension Education Store provides over 2,000 resources at affordable or at no-cost. Resources come in a variety of forms that include but are not limited to PDFs, books, apps, videos and webinars.

Purdue Extension's Education Store

This interactive tool helps users explore soil properties and landscapes for a variety of regions. This tool is provided and sourced by the United States Geological Survey and in partnership with Purdue University.

Soil Explorer

The Dig It! DIY is a downloadable version of the sixteen panels that used to preside in the Smithsonian. Click this link to view and create this exhibit at home!

The Dig It!

Check out this compilation of resources by the Natural Resources Conservation Service Soils for students anywhere between grades 7 and 12.

Basic Soils Education for Grades 7 thru 12

This resource by Natural Resources Conservation Service Soils provides a variety of tools to help educators implement soils curriculum. These guides, videos, and resources provide detailed instructions and references to help with lesson plans.

Soil Health for Educators

This resource, compiled by the Institute of Agriculture of Natural Resources lists a variety of documents and links that can help educators create lesson plans.

General Soil Activities for the Classroom

The Conservation Cropping Systems Initiative(CCSI) aims to help farmers provide a variety of resources to help "improve soil health on Indiana's cropland." Click the link to learn more.

Conservation Cropping Systems Initiative

The Natural Resources Conservation Services(NRCS) provides a variety of links, resources, and links to help farmers. Click the link to learn more.

USDA National Resources Conservation Services

The Web Soil Survey provides soil data and information collected by the National Cooperative Soil Survey on over 95% of the nation's counties. The site is regularly updated and is intended for a variety of uses including general farm, local, and wider area farming.

USDA Web Soil Survey

The Soil Health Institute released Living Soil, a new documentary featuring several farmers who have been SARE grantees. A link to the full press release can be at CSRWire. An excerpt is posted below: The Soil Health Institute released Living Soil, a 60-minute documentary about soil health featuring innovative farmers and soil health experts from throughout the U.S. The film is freely available to download and stream at www.livingsoilfilm.com. Accompanying lesson plans for college and high school students will be available on World Soil Day on December 5th.

Living Soil Documentary

Documenting cover crops stories from NW Indiana with hopes of encouraging the use of cover crops in Indiana and beyond. Click on the link to watch the extensive list of videos on this YouTube channel.

The Cover Crop Guy

The Purdue Extension Education Store provides over 2,000 resources at affordable or at no-cost. Resources come in a variety of forms that include but are not limited to PDFs, books, apps, videos and webinars.

• • Cover Crops for the Modern Cropping System (AY-352-W)
  • Strategies To Improve Your Field’s Soil Health (AY-363)
  • Indiana Soil and Water: Tips for Environmentally Friendly Phosphorus Applications in Indiana (AY-386)
  • Managing Cover Crops: Checklist for Integrating Cover Crops Into Your Cropping System (AY-354)
  • Midwest Cover Crops Field Guide (ID-433)
  • On-Farm Soil Monitoring for Water Resource Protection (WQ-43)
  • Soil and Water Science - Activity guides for Grades: 3-5; 6-8, and 9-12. Enter “Soil and Water Science” in the Search box
  • Terminating Cover Crops: Successful Cover Crop Termination with Herbicides (WS-50)

Purdue Extension Education Store