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Equinox Outdoor Learning

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After having discussion, click through the 5 animals above...Then click to middle picture

Rabbit

Shrew

Mole

Badger

Fox

Then bring in next pic of mites, fungi, bacteria etc

Speak about other things that cant be seen with the naked eye Microbes, Fungi, Bacteria –

Use a dot on paper to show how small organisms can be = like a mite that has been made bigger hundreds even thousands of times their real size
Physically use a tsp of soil: tsp of soil contains more living things than there are people on this planet!

What is soil really made of?

Soil consists of:

Minerals – have some rocks, sand or clay to show
Water – glass of water to use later on
Air – use a air pump or balloon – or they could even guess an empty jar contains air
*Organic matter – who knows what organic means?- the most important thing, organic means things that grow and are alive like worms, insects etc but also things that were alive, like dead leaves and dead animals and insects – get some dead leaves etc and mention animal waste

�Now if you mix these all together and you would get soil! - link back to 4 items that make soil – the importance of worms, bacteria, fungi and animal waste to make soil really healthy -ORGANIC material

Now lets have a look at these things in a bit more detail but in a real example…next PP

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PP and Experiment 1

Experiment 1 *jar of settled soil – I added water to some soil/compost and left it….what can you see? speak about the layers

- closer to black the humus is means has more organic matter in it, the healthier it is and more things can grow and live in it

�Exercise – can ask individual if they would like to have a go at making soil…they can mix a bit of the earlier 4 components, in a jar and give a good shake!....Q) but why doesn’t it look like the soil in a teaspoon?

Explain it takes at least 600yrs to make an inch of soil!!! So the one thing they cannot add is time…but they did everything else correct

Now why is soil so important? – ask the group and have a discussion

Q) Who can name me what their favourite food is?

Banana…..where does this come from?....Tesco or Sainsburys…? .no from the ground, it grows from the soil

Any fruit/veg (as above)

Food dishes (Lasagne, Curry etc – the tomatoes, herbs that give it flavour all come from the ground)

�Click to next PP

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Q) Click PP We know food comes from soil, so we’d be starving without it!!!

…but what else also comes from soils that we use every day?

*Discuss these points with them, so they realise

Furniture – such as (click PP) your bed

Your (click PP) chairs, your desk…point to any thing in the room, such as books, pencils etc

Even where you live (click PP) – think about the doors, windows, roof, garden fences

And finally, if we didn’t have soil, we wouldn’t even have any (Click PP) clothes!!! – we’d probably all be walking around naked!!!

In fact everything we use to live comes from soil!!!

Let’s do an experiment…

Experiment 2

2 trays (with a lip) – good soil and sand (have very small holes in both trays and have over a glass bowl each)

Ask for a volunteer and ask them to pour water (set amount in each beaker)…1st into healthy soil, and 2nd into sand (as degraded or unhealthy soil)

after a few minutes it’ll be clear that healthy soil holds water much better, than the sand

***(move onto next points, then come back to above to show how much water has come from each)

It also:

feeds us and other animals that live on the land
Gives us and other animals water to drink
Keeps our planet a nice temperature, not too hot because of the water it holds
Helps trees/plants grow so we can breathe in oxygen that’s in the air we breathe
It’s a home to billions and billions of living things, big and small!

(go back to the 2 trays with water)

Q) If you were a plant, which of these would you like to grow in? – pointing to each tray

Q) If you were a worm in which of these would you like to live in? - Explain worms like moist soil so they can move, hence when it rains they come up to the surface, otherwise they like to stay lower in soil where it’s moist, and not dried by the sun.

So soil has fantastic ability to store water, but sand does not. Soil without organic matter turns into sand.

Q) So what’s happening to our soil, and why is not well or healthy?

Let’s watch a short vid – (soil becoming sick) – next PP

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4 major things happening to

Click Machines + chemicals used in farming are making the soil unwell - already covered in video
Click Erosion – from wind and rain
Click Becoming desertfied – turning to sand
Click Soil sealing – soil being paved on, or built on

Q) What can we do about our soil to make our soil healthy again?

Composting – yes that’s a nice idea, and it will make our garden plants grow healthier but its not enough for all the soil in the world where our food is grown

�So let me tell you what one man who started SaveSoil is did:

Click to next PP – BUT KEEP IT PAUSED

�Stop at picture of Sadhguru on bike – 100 days, 30,000kms (20,000 miles), that’s only about 5000 miles less than travelling all the way around the world, in just 100 days on his motorbike!

Talking to friends and family, talk about saving soil, and what you learnt here today

we can draw, sing a song, write a poem, do a dance – ask a grown up to share this for you on a special exhibition where people from all over the world are showing what they’ve done

write letters to our prime minister telling them how much you care about soil and want it to be healthy – Ask your mums and dads, uncles and aunties to do the same.��*In class have time to draw, write something on a large piece of paper – and also take photos of kids doing this etc.

Can take some photos outside with SaveSoil banner

�Can upload work to exhibition link.

�(Can play soil dance vid in background final PP whilst they’re doing the above or if time can learn the ‘Soil Dance’!)

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