All about soil

All About Soil

Soil is amazing and full of life. Learn more here.

Why Soil is One of the Most Amazing Things on Earth – an inspiring video, all about soil

A Chaos of Delight – a fascinating website all about the tiny creatures that live in the soil – packed with exquisite photos and surprising information.

Life in the soil was thought to be silent. What if it isn’t? – a fascinating article about the sounds that come from under the soil

Nutrient Cycling – gives information about how plants get the nutrition they need to thrive (includes promotional material)

Structure and Types of Soil – a fun video introducing soil – for little ones

The Importance of Soil | Essentials of Environmental Science – covering how soil evolves, its different properties, how it degrades and its role in climate change

Soils: Our ally against climate change – explaining the relationship between soil health and carbon sequestration

Brian Cox Short Films – Soil – a scientist explains the importance of “goo” in soil

Is Soil Alive? – contemplates why it’s helpful to think of soil as being alive (includes promotional material).

Soil Organic Carbon – the treasure beneath our feet – explaining the relationship between soil health and carbon sequestration

Soil Diversity 101 – highlights the importance of soil biodiversity and how it is being lost.

Understanding Our Soil: The Nitrogen Cycle, Fixers, and Fertilizer – a snappy video explaining the nitrogen cycle and how the practices we use to put nitrogen in the soil impact soil health

Put carbon where it belongs… back in the soil – covering how farming can be a solution to climate change

Mission: Keep Soil Alive – an animation showing how the choices we make in farming affect the health of the soil.

The Soil Solution to Climate Change Film – an informative film about how soil can be a solution to climate change.

Why Soil Matters – an educational video covering many aspects of soil health (includes promotional material).

How Soil is Created: The Succession of Life in the Evolution of Soil – a fascinating video about how soil is formed.

What is Soil (and Why is it Important)?: Crash Course Geography – a detailed crash course covering the science of soil.

Stages of Primary Succession – exploring the stages of soil formation starting with volcanic rock.

Kiss the Ground – an engaging documentary covering the issues facing soil and some of their solutions. There is a special 45 minute version for schools.

Global Soil Biodiversity Atlas – an informative 180 page book that goes into great detail about the biodiversity of soil.

Soil Biology (Microfauna) – Terry Tollefson – an opportunity to view many of the tiny animals that live in soil, like nematodes, mites and tardigrades.

Did you know?

The amount of bacteria in one hectare of soil weighs the same as two cows.

25% of our planet’s diversity lives in soil. There are estimated to be:

30,000 species of earthworm – only 7,000 known to science so far.

between 1.5 million and 5.1 million species of fungi – only 97,000 known to science so far.

25,000 species of ant – only 14,000 known to science so far.

It’s estimated that about 80% of the world’s multicellular animals are nematodes.

 

Downloads

An Earthworm Quiz to discus the importance of earthworms for healthy soil in a fun, interactive session.

A Soil Water Retention and Erosion Experiment to see which kinds of soil store water best.

A Save Soil Exhibition Flyer to invite others to join.

A How to Participate Flyer to explain to schools how to take part.

A Save Soil Exhibition Flyer for Children to invite young children and their parents to join.

 

See also

Why Save Soil?

Lesson Resources

Introductory Videos

Farmers’ View

Creative Themes

Save Soil Anthem

Anapaula Rocha

When I joined the Save Soil movement I saw the possibility to reconnect with my first memory about soil. I was about 7 years old and my teacher asked us to monitor the growth of a bean and look after that tiny piece of life. This first experience never lost its sense of magic and mystery for me. How was it possible for a seed to transform itself into a plant on a piece of cotton wool and then grow enough to continue living in soil? I recalled transplanting it into the soil and still now remember the smell of that soil too.

As a parent I had revived the experiment, watching my children growing their own beans at school. 

As a child photographer, there were many times when I had witnessed children connect deeply with the wonder of forests. We sat on the ground to deepen their experience.

My involvement with Save Soil has brought the opportunity to engage once again with the bean project. I had the pleasure of repeating the experiment and photographing it in detail as well as contacting two families and engaging with their children about soil.

The children were of different ages and showed a good range of familiarity with the soil; some were more involved than others. After listening to their own experiences I shared the idea of recreating the bean project. They will monitor the experiment using their creative skills and we will reconnect in the middle of the project.

I believe that connection with soil is an essential component in raising awareness about the soil itself and its depletion. By conducting the same experiment, and inviting the children to engage with their creativity, it will certainly create an opportunity for conversation with their own families and friends about soil - sharing how the soil needs our attention and care just now.

Roxana Păun

My first presentation was about ”What is the soil?” The children in my class have already studied about the layers of the earth: Barysphere, Hydrosphere and Lithosphere. Soil is part of the Lithosphere, the outermost part of it. Then we start talking about the composition of the soil: what it contains as non-living matter and the life inside the soil: microbes, fungi, bacteria, worms, insects, and other animals. We also discussed what is the role of the soil, how it contributes to the other living beings on Earth, and the importance it has for the survival of life on our planet.

The children were so excited about all the information, and they contributed with their own knowledge and ideas. They connected so many areas of the economical system to farming, and discovered that actually everything comes from soil. We have performed experiments, and the children wrote various projects on soil. We are planning to continue with the study of soil in the next two months.

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As a parent I had revived the experiment, watching my children growing their own beans at school. 

As a child photographer, there were many times when I had witnessed children connect deeply with the wonder of forests. We sat on the ground to deepen their experience.

My involvement with Save Soil has brought the opportunity to engage once again with the bean project. I had the pleasure of repeating the experiment and photographing it in detail as well as contacting two families and engaging with their children about soil.

The children were of different ages and showed a good range of familiarity with the soil; some were more involved than others. After listening to their own experiences I shared the idea of recreating the bean project. They will monitor the experiment using their creative skills and we will reconnect in the middle of the project.

I believe that connection with soil is an essential component in raising awareness about the soil itself and its depletion. By conducting the same experiment, and inviting the children to engage with their creativity, it will certainly create an opportunity for conversation with their own families and friends about soil - sharing how the soil needs our attention and care just now.