Here's a West Virginia perk a lot of families don't know about: basic soil testing through the WVU Soil Testing Lab is free for West Virginia residents. You dig a sample, send it in with a form, and get back a report on your soil's pH and nutrients, plus recommendations for what to add. (WVU Extension: Soil Testing for Beginning Gardeners)
Fall is a natural time to do it. The leaves are down, the garden is winding up, and WVU Extension's fall checklist suggests sending a sample to the soil lab now so you have recommendations ready for next season. (WVU Extension: Getting Ready for Fall)
For homeschoolers, that turns a chore into a science unit. Before the lab tells you what's in your dirt, let your kids find out for themselves with a jar, some water and a little patience.
What your kids will learn
Soil looks like "just dirt" until kids start taking it apart. Then it becomes a mix of rock, water, air and living things that decides how well plants grow.
Grades K–5
- What soil is made of: sand, silt, clay, bits of plants and lots of tiny living things
- How soils look and feel different (gritty, smooth, sticky)
- What makes a test "fair": changing only one thing at a time
- How to record results with drawings, simple measurements and charts
Grades 6–12
- Soil texture and how particle size affects drainage, moisture and air for roots
- Why pH matters: WVU notes most vegetables grow best between pH 5.5 and 6.5
- Independent, dependent and controlled variables in a growing experiment
- Measuring germination speed and plant height, graphing the data and drawing conclusions
This week's activity: the backyard "mud jar" test
This classic experiment separates your soil into layers so kids can see what it's made of. You don't need to buy anything.
You'll need: a clear jar with a tight lid (a quart mason jar works well), a garden trowel, water, a drop of dish soap, a ruler and a notebook.
- Dig a sample. Pick a spot in your garden or yard, brush away the leaves, and dig down about 4 to 6 inches. Pull out rocks, roots and sticks.
- Make a prediction. Have everyone rub a pinch between their fingers. Gritty? Smooth? Sticky? Write down a guess: is your soil mostly sand, silt or clay?
- Fill the jar. Add soil until the jar is about one-third full, then add water until it's about two-thirds full. Add one drop of dish soap to help the particles separate.
- Shake it. Screw the lid on tight and take turns shaking for about three minutes. (Little arms get tired, so pass it around.)
- Watch the layers form. Set the jar where it won't be bumped. Sand settles to the bottom within a minute or two, silt settles over the next few hours, and clay can take a day or more to settle, leaving cloudy water above it.
- Measure. The next day, use the ruler to measure each layer and the total height of soil. Older kids can calculate the percentage of each layer.
- Compare. Try a second jar with soil from a different spot, like under a tree or near the driveway, and see how they differ.
- Go official. If you'd like the full picture, collect a sample following WVU's instructions and send it to the soil lab. Compare the lab's report with what your jars showed.
Want to see how soil changes the way plants grow? Our Soil Science Experiment Kit (4 Pots) takes the next step. Kids plant real seeds side by side in traditional potting mix and coconut coir, then track which sprouts first, which grows taller and which roots look healthiest. Everything is in one box: four 3-inch peat pots, potting mix, coconut coir pellets, two fast-germinating seed varieties, and grade-level curriculum and worksheets (emailed after purchase). Sprouting typically begins in 3 to 7 days, so kids see results quickly, even on a gray West Virginia week.
Join the growing community
Every kit includes an invitation to Aardvark's Seed Planting For Little Hands, our private support group for families using our kits. Share a photo of your mud jar layers, post your seedling measurements, or ask a question when an experiment does something surprising. Young growers in West Virginia, Arkansas and Arizona are running the same experiments in very different soils, which makes comparing results half the fun.
Get your homeschool soil lab started
- Soil Science Experiment Kit (4 Pots) – Compare Growing Media, with Curriculum & Worksheets: $39.90. Choose Grades K–5 or 6–12 at checkout.
- Planning next spring's garden too? The Heirloom Vegetable Seed Science Collection ($85.95) includes 30 heirloom varieties and over 5,000 seeds, with curriculum and worksheets, so your soil results turn straight into a planting plan.
