1. SOIL
It’s ALIVE!

2. Everyone share what you think soil is.
What is soil?
Everyone share what you think soil is.

3. What is soil and what does it do?
Agenda:
What is soil and what does it do?
Soil Nutrients Needed for Plant Growth
Your Learning Garden Soil
Managing Soil Health

4. What does soil do for us and plants?
Medium for plant growth
Home for organisms
Recycler of natural materials
Water filtration system
Modifier of the atmosphere
Structure holding up buildings

5. Soil Components: Minerals Worm (OM) Air 25% AIR Organic Material (OM)
25% WATER
Soil does so many great things but for the rest of this presentation we are going to focus on the components that make it a good medium for growing plants. In the garden a good soil will hold water and allow for drainage, hold nutrients, be a thriving ecosystem for microbial and insect life, and have a good structure for roots and organisms.
In order to achieve all of those things we need to understand what soil is made of. Soil is not just one thing is is actually a mix of things (CLICK). In order to have actual soil we need minerals and on average soil is 45% minerals (CLICK). In between those minerals is pore space that takes up roughly 50% of the space and can either be filled with water or air (CLICK, CLICK).
5% OM
Water

6. The mineral content - Sand, Silt, and Clay:mm
Silt mm
Clay
<0.002 mm
Let us start by taking a closer look at the minerals in the soil. Minerals are what makes soil soil. If there are no minerals than it is not actually soil but rather a planting medium or soilless soil. Soil is made up of 3 main particle types ranging in size. On the right is the largest one, sand. Sand allows for great drainage and and good aeration in the soil. The middle size particle is silt. Silt holds more water than sand and can hold onto nutrients better. The smallest particle is clay which holds water a little too well, but is the best at storing nutrients in the layers of clay that are created. None of these particles on their own create the perfect soil. Rather a mix of these three will create a perfect soil for growing food. When growing food you want a soil that has good drainage but can hold onto water, is able to hold nutrients, and has a good structure. The perfect growing mix is called loam and is a balance of all 3.

7. The Ribbon Test:
Have your students use a sample of soil and follow the worksheet instructions to identify what type it may be.

8. Soil Structure: Water and Air:
After Watering
Not Watering
50 percent of the soil is water and air. Depending on different times there are different percentages of each. On this slide you can see the gaps between each rock. This is the pore space in between soil particles and is filled either with water or air. Right after you water your garden you have filled the pores with water so you might have 90% water and 10% air. However, if you don’t water for months you will lose water to the plants and evaporation and might have 10% water and 90% air. Even though plants need water to survive it is important that your soil does not become 100% water as this may kill many of the organisms in your soil or promote the growth of the ones we do not want. If your soil is too dry it might become hydrophobic and repel water as the water runs through cracks through the soil instead of seeping into pore space
Half Water Half Air

9. !!! SOIL IS ALIVE !!! Organisms and Organic Matter
Decomposes
Even though this is the smallest part of the soil at only 5% it is by far the most important. In a way you can see the other three components of soil as a way to maximize this one. In the organic matter of your soil you will find dead and decomposing organic material and living creatures that are decomposing those items.
The creatures decomposing the organic matter turn things like leaves, stems, mulch, or any other organic material into humus that the plant can pull nutrients from. There are two types of decomposers physical, and chemical. The physical decomposers physically break down and tear apart organic matter into smaller pieces. These include things like beetles, flees, mites, and many other insects. The other type is chemical decomposers that break down organic material and change the chemical structure through chemical reactions. This is done by fungi and bacteria. Fungi also has a secondary job and work in a mutually beneficial relationship with plant roots helping them absorb nutrients from the soil and in return the fungi get energy from the plant.
Physical Decomposer
Chemical Decomposer

10. Macro: Micro: Nutrients in the soil: Calcium Magnesium Nitrogen
Chlorine
Phosphorus
Zinc
Boron
Iron
Manganese
Potassium
Copper
Molybdenum
There are combination of macro and micro nutrients that plants get from the soil. The macronutrients are more abundant than the micro nutrients but all of them are essential to healthy plants

11. Macronutrients: The main ingredients needed for plant growth:
Nitrogen (N) Phosphorus (P) Potassium (K)
Vegetative growth
DNA and RNA
Root Development
Seed Production
Enzymatic Activities
There are three macronutrients Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium. These three nutrients drive most of the plant growth you will see in your garden. Nitrogen focuses on Vegetative growth including the leaves and the STEMs. Phosphorus creates DNA and RNA as well as helping with root and seed development. Finally Potassium helps with important enzymatic activities.

12. Micronutrients & Trace Minerals:
Magnesium
ppm
Boron
ppm
Manganese
ppm
Copper
ppm
Calcium
1, ,500 ppm
Iron
ppm
Molybdenum
Zinc
ppm
Chlorine
Photosynthesis
Reproduction
Chlorophyll
Oxidase Enzyme
Cell Structure
Photosynthesis
Chlorophyll
Chlorophyll
Nitrogen Uptake
The big three, NPK, may be important but there are many more nutrients that are needed in order for your plants to be successful. Most of these nutrient are needed in very small amounts and thus are called micronutrients or trace minerals. These nutrients are crucial as they build cell structure, assist the plants in photosynthesis, and are important for the creation and function of chlorophyll. They are also needed for reproduction, enzyme activity, and improved nutrient uptake.

13. How do nutrients move through the env.?
On your worksheet draw arrows and describe the ways nutrients might move through these different boxes.

14. How do nutrients move through the env.?
Here is how carbon moves through the environment. As you can see each part is interconnected and is responsible in some way for the uptake and redistribution of the nutrient.

15. Spot the unhealthy plant:B. C. D.
Find the unhealthy plant

16. Spot the unhealthy plant:B. C. D.
Find the unhealthy plant

17. Spot the unhealthy plant:B. C. D.
Find the unhealthy plant

18. Soil Nutrient Card Game
CLASS ACTIVITY:
Soil Nutrient Card Game
Put 10 beads into each cup except for the water cup which gets 5.
Assign one member of your group to be the Bacteria/Fungi.
Shuffle the cards and place them in a stack.
Read the question on the front of the card and come up with an answer as a group.
Flip the card over and check you answer.
Move the amount of beads dedicated on the card.
Repeat until you have used all the cards in the deck.
What do you notice about the amount of beads in each category.
Remove the cards labeled 1 and 2 and replay the game.
What do you notice this time.
Gather students into groups and have them go through two rounds of the soil nutrient card game and have them write down what they notice on their worksheet.

19. Explore Your Learning Garden Soil! Big Question! Is it soil???
What do you find in it?
What don’t you find in it?
How many parts of soil can you identify?
What does it feel, smell, and look like?
Does it form a ribbon?
Big Question!
Is it soil???
Have your students explore the learning garden soil and answer these questions.

20. Maintain Soil Health:
Amendments
Cover crops
Mulching

21. Natural Fertilizers 2% Nitrogen 6% Phosphorus 3% Potassium
Calcium Magnesium Sulfur Manganese Zinc
Slow Release N
4% Nitrogen
6% Phosphorus
4% Potassium
Calcium Magnesium Copper Sulfur
Slow release N
1 cup per full garden bed
1 cup per full garden bed

22. Cover Crops:

23. Mulching: