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4:27 min.  Good intro to what soil is and what it offers us. 

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See Microbes with this DIY Phone Microscope

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Why soil is one of the most amazing things on Earth | BBC Ideas

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Underground Soil Critter Field Guide Used with this

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Underground Soil Critter Field Guide Used with this

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There's more to soil than meets the eye. The world of soil is a rich habitat for many amazing creatures. What do you think life would be like if you lived underground? You've come to the right place to find out!

Want to find out how it feels to be a half-inch tall? Transmogrify!

You're not alone under the soil. Test your knowledge in our Critter Quiz!

Take a Virtual Tour to experience theUnderground Adventure exhibition at The Field Museum.

Plus find activities you can do at home or school to explore the world beneath your feet in the Kid Zone!

You Can Do
To Improve
Soil Quality!

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The Field Museum | Underground Adventure

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There's more to soil than meets the eye. The world of soil is a rich habitat for many amazing creatures. What do you think life would be like if you lived underground? You've come to the right place to find out! Want to find out how it feels to be a half-inch tall?

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Information on some organisms found underground

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Information on some organisms found underground

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This is a useful little field guide to who lives in soil.

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excellent demo on water retention in soil

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excellent demo on water retention in soil

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Demos what kind of soil holds water.  Would be easy and fun to replicate.  Shows the root systems that hold the water, and create soil structure.

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We personalize nature.org for you This website uses cookies to enhance your experience and analyze performance and traffic on our website. To manage or opt-out of receiving cookies, please visit our Privacy Notice .

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About living soil and building a garden--excellent

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About living soil and building a garden--excellent

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superb in 3' what soil can do for Carbon

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superb in 3' what soil can do for Carbon

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Biosequestration...   This works for explorers and older kids.
Visually it's quite different than most of the videos we're using, and very very good, even having a monster-looking beetle at the end.

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This is a quick demo of how healthy soil absorbs water

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Carbon sequestering to bring Earth back into balance

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I included the book cover as well. This animation of the story is beautiful. Great messaging--"I am doing what I can"

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Flight of the Hummingbird - Haida Manga by Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas

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https://www.aeromatico.com/living-soil-and-the-soil-food-web/

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It seems like the two phrases "living soil" and "the soil food web" are finally starting to catch on. Every time I hear these words, I get excited. My wife knows this and if she is close by, I usually get a little wink from her that makes me smile. For me as a gardener, soil is everything. I don't worry much about my plants because they are just indicators of what is happening in my soil. Soil is truly living and the soil food web is the best way to describe it. Of course it is easy to see the organic matter, arthropods, and red wigglers in great soil, but that is just the beginning. A microscope is needed to tell the rest of the story. One teaspoon of soil contains so much life, that it is impossible to physically count. It takes me about an hour to analyze one drop of a diluted soil mixture in water. In this time, I can get a good count of the fungal hyphae, protozoa, and nematodes, but only estimate the types and quantities of bacteria.

We all know about food webs and how everything is connected. The food web in the soil works the same way, just on a much larger and complex scale. The soil food web has perfected itself over millions of years and is perfect in every way. It doesn't do it justice, but here is my very simple depiction of the soil food web. I've drawn the fungal mycelium at the center of the soil food web which I believe connects everything together. Plants harness energy from the sun and pump exudates into the soil to feed the web. In turn, the complex soil food web symbiotically delivers everything the plants need to thrive, completing the chain.

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Living Soil and the Soil Food Web * AeromatiCo

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Dan here. I though I would try this blog thing. It seems like the two phrases "living soil" and "the soil food web" are finally starting to catch on. Every time I hear these words, I get excited. My wife knows this and if she is close by, I usually get a little wink from ...

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https://www.aeromatico.com/soil-health/

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The key to improving soil is increasing the percentage of organic matter and biodiversity. Scientists have discovered more microbes in a teaspoon of healthy soil than people on the planet (USDA). And, that is why it is called living soil. The soil food web makes it all possible.

So how do you go about building organic matter and biodiversity? Compost!

Composting organic matter is the process of allowing Mother Nature's microbes to break down and decompose the waste converting it into water soluble nutrients and food for more microorganisms. Microorganisms act as both the clean-up crew as well as assist your plants with nutrient cycling. The organisms travel through the soil delivering needed food and water to the root system in exchange for exudates produced through photosynthesis by your plants.

People ask us all the time how the AeromatiCo liquid composter works. Check out the videos below to see the types of bacteria, protozoa, nematodes, and rotifers that flourish in the microbiome of the AeromatiCo compost bin. These aerobic microbes are readily available to drench on your soil improving the organic matter and inoculating the soil to promote new colonies of beneficial microbes.

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The key to improving soil is increasing the percentage of organic matter and biodiversity. Scientists have discovered more microbes in a teaspoon of healthy soil than people on the planet (USDA). And, that is why it is called living soil. The soil food web makes it all possible.

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Both The Grizzly Mother & The Sockeye Mother would be gr5-8 I think.

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https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MEDIA/nrcs142p2_049822.jpg

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https://soilsalive.com/what-is-the-soil-food-web/

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In our continued obsession with teaching you about soil, we want to introduce you to the Soil Food Web. Remember when we discussed why soil is so important to plants and our environment? The Soil Food Web is a great way to visually illustrate how plants, animals, bacteria and fungi aid in creating healthy soil that supports our plants. These plants in turn support the entire environment with oxygen, food and habitat.

The Soil Food Web describes more than just a single, linear food chain. The Soil Food Web illustrates how soil, a complex community of living organisms, interacts with its environment including plants and animals in a variety of ways.

The cycle startes with the sun: Plants use photosynthesis to turn the sun's energy into usable energy for themselves and in turn create fuels that are used by other organisms as food. Plants are called autotrophs,because they produce their own energy. Heterotrophs, such as animals, eat the plants to obtain their energy because they cannot produce their own.

There are 3 levels of energy: Producers (plants), primary consumers (herbivores) and secondary consumers (predators). These three levels of energy will cycle through each other several times. At the end of the food chain the decomposers, bacteria and fungi, will eventually break down the dead plant and animal material into nutrients returned to the soil.

Pretty cool!
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Soils Alive,soil,organic,Texas,garden,insects,soil food web,Dallas

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In our continued obsession with teaching you about soil, we want to introduce you to the Soil Food Web. Remember when we discussed why soil is so important to plants and our environment? The Soil Food Web is a great way to visually illustrate how plants, animals, bacteria and fungi aid in creating healthy soil [...]

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https://www.freepermaculture.com/soil-food-web/

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Soil Food Web In The Permaculture Garden

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What is a soil food web and why is it important? Meet the creatures that help your garden grow.

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I included the book cover as well. This animation of the story is beautiful. Great messaging--"I am doing what I can"

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Flight of the Hummingbird - Haida Manga by Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=heMT2XwFXlU

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Become a Planet Protector: Support Reclaimers!

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Food and food webs Extraordinary and with kid humor

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Food and food webs Extraordinary and with kid humor

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this is an extraordinary of 3 presentations about ecosystems and food.  It is funny as well as well-structured for learning, naming the big question, the evidence, the conclusion.  I think the three here are fabulous and although they build on one another, the last one about the food web covers everything important in an ecosystem, including if one species fails, it can bring down the whole food chain.  First one is about waste
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZhE2p46vJk

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Food Chains Compilation: Crash Course Kids

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Esteemed Elder, recently passed. Respected around the world

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Esteemed Elder, recently passed. Respected around the world

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Suggested pauses for discussion: 1:40 (hug and talk with trees and water); 2:36 (never take more than you need); 2:55 (expressions of love); 3:30 (Mother Earth is alive)

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Learning how to care for Mother Earth with Elder Dave Courchene