Patwin Elementary Soil Sifting Activity

Patwin Elementary Soil Sifting Activity, Chris Holm, 11/2/2013
The sifter above will sift the soil right into the beds. You can have 2-3 children
sifting at one time.
You will take the soil from this mound of excess soil which is on the west side of
the garden beds.Try not to let any crab grass get into the dirt (growing on the
edges of the mound).
This is the second sifting station. This one has a wheelbarrow under it so the children
can sift the soil into it. However, this one may have a lot of spillage but I plan to put a tarp
down to catch it. I have one in the shed. The pink bucket will deliver the soil needing to
be sifted over to this sifter. Four children plus one bucket carrier can work this sifter,
for a total of 5 children working and each rotating onto the bucket. They will all want
to sift at some point so we just rotate.
This is the third station. The children will sift into the two bins and then carry the bins
over to the bed where they can dump them in. Since they will need to carry them
do not let them get to heavy. This station will work with up to four sifters.
Here is what it will look like when sifting. Some of the solid is dry and some is
damp. Both are okay but nothing too wet or it does not sift well. The further you
dig the wetter it gets. Try and scoop up a combination of dry and damp soil each time.
Before sifted
When it looks like this which is mostly rocks and dry dirt we stop and dump it.
It is best to keep this mound covered so if it rains the soil will stay dry. It it gets
too wet it could take weeks to dry out. This way even if it rains the night before
you can still work with the children the next day. I also use the surrounding soil
to hold down the tarp. We cannot use any objects that may be hurled through a
window.