… by another name it is known as soil, a lifeblood of the living Earth along with air and water; we all depend on soil to carry on the continuation of life on the planet. Student scientists at The Academy At Carrie F Thomas in Birdville ISD are in the process of studying mixtures and understand that mixtures maintain the physical properties of their ingredients; and what better way to understand mixtures than to investigate the components that make up soil.
A question often heard from students is “what is soil?” Soil is the mixture of decaying plants and animals, minerals, water and air in various measured amounts depending where on Earth the soil sample is taken. Soil is made up of organic (living) and inorganic (non-living) materials and soil is part of the nutrient cycle of all living things. Components of soil are sticks, leaves, roots, worms, particles of rock, fungus, bacteria, invertebraes and essentially everything that once existed; everything returns to the earth.
The following three quotes help to understand the value of soil –
“Each soil has its own history. Like a river, a mountain, a forest, or any natural thing, its present condition is due to the influences of many things and events of the past.” – Charles Kellogg, The Soils that Support Us, 1956
“Essentially all life depends on the soil… There can be no life without soil and no soil without life; they have evolved together” – Charles E. Kellogg, USDA Yearbook of Agriculture, 1938
“Land, then, is not merely soil; it is a fountain of energy flowing through a circuit of soils, plants and animals.” – Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac, 1949
Our education team is looking forward to delivering a day of Professional Development to 3rd grade teachers from Fort Worth ISD on Thursday, December 8th -- the subject matter is Soil!
Academy at Carrie F. Thomas