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Dr. Elissa Levine talks about the soil and its importance to all of us
| From one who loves
working with the soil to all of you... |
 |
Dear Students and Teachers,
The school year in the United States is almost half over, and I am excited about how GLOBE is growing all over the world! We have all made some wonderful accomplishments in just a short time! One hundred soil characterizations have been reported in the year since this set of protocols were included in the Teacher's Guide. I want every school to take these data and every GLOBE student to begin learning about the importance of soil to our environment!
I am writing to encourage you to make these protocols a part of your GLOBE activities, not only because the data is important for Earth science research purposes, but also because the measurements are fun, interesting, and relevant to the subjects you are already teaching and learning in your classes.
I have heard many exciting stories from teachers and students who have performed their GLOBE Soil Characterization Measurements. While they do get messy, they loved digging in the soil! Many are amazed at the differences in horizons as they dig deeper and uncover their soil profile. There are so many colors, shapes, textures, and treasures to be discovered, and these differ from site to site! Sometimes the soil properties do not change greatly through a soil profile, which is also important information and tells us much about the climate to which the soil has been exposed, the parent material from which it was formed, the types of vegetation that have grown in it, the way it has been used, and many other pieces of the soil's history.
Why is Soil Data Important to Scientists?
How does soil science relate to the other topics you are studying?
Do you need help making the soil characterization measurements?
I look forward to hearing from you all as you explore and learn more about soil!
Dr. Elissa Levine
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center
Code 923/Biospheric Sciences Branch
Greenbelt, Maryland 20771 USA
globe@ltpmail.gsfc.nasa.gov