For a final science experiment in his summer workbook, Travis learned a bit about gardening and soil. You’ll need potting soil for this experiment, as well as any “mulch” that your child gathers, either from your yard or on nature walk. Simple dried leaves and pine needles work just fine!

Travis helped measure out potting soil into two small plastic containers, making sure each contained the same amount (we used 3/4 cup soil per container). Add water to make the soil very wet, and again measure to make sure the containers have an equal amount; we used 1/2 cup.

Now cover only one with the mulch you’ve gathered. Travis proudly patted this on.

Place the containers some place sunny and wait 3 days!

After the third day, we headed out to check on our soil, but rain had skewed our results! The idea was that the soil with mulch should remain moister, but instead, both our containers were swamped. Luckily, we had a teachable moment; the soil with no mulch was washed away completely. But the soil under the mulch had been protected! So without intending too, Travis also learned how mulch enhances a garden’s drainage.

He finished the lesson by answering a few workbook questions about the experiment, which was a great chance for inventive spelling.