Organism of The Year! Summer, Juliette, Amelia Soil is just as important as water, to all organisms, everywhere. There is an endless list of how soil helps our ecosystem. Soil provides shelter for small bugs and animals, as well as a growing site for plants. It provides trees, which in turn provide fuel, paper, and homes for many animals. Food chains are dependent on soil. The herbivores eat the plants that the soil homes. Carnivores and omnivores eat those herbivores, and each other. Without plants the herbivores would die, without the herbivores, the carnivores would die. Soil is the axle on which our lives spin. There are many layers of soil. Currently, topsoil, the layer closest to the surface is endangered. Topsoil degradation occurs when polluted and disturbed natural areas (forrest being cut down, oil drilling, etc.) are left vulnerable to the wind, sun, and rain. The soil erodes away leaving layers of soil that contain less nutrients, therefore less likely to support new vegetation. ‘Ant. A small insect, often with a sting that usually lives in a complex social colony with one or more breeding queens. It is wingless except for fertile adults, which often form large mating swarms, and is proverbial for industriousness’. This is the dictionary definition of Ant. This is why we chose the Ant as our Organism of the Year!
May 26, 2014
Our soil is being poisoned by plastic (styrofoam, glass, etc), pesticides, and monocrops (mono crops is the growing of one breed of crop, vulnerable to disease and pesticides. Because they all are the same, they all need the same exact nutrients, draining the soil of certain nutrients.). And although ants can spoil picnics, or invite themselves into our houses, ants are beneficial to the soil. There are over twelve-thousand species of ants that we know of, but there are expected to be at least triple that amount waiting to be discovered. Similar to earthworms, ants help make the soil healthier. By digging tunnels, ants turn over the dirt, bringing nutrients closer to the surface. Their tunnels also allow water to circulate more freely through the soil. Seed-harvesting ants increase the dispersal rate of seeds. By carrying them to new habitats and storing them in nutrient rich ant nests, the seeds can sprout in a protected environment, safe from seed predators and drought. Ants prey on the eggs and larvae of insects such as flies, fleas, bedbugs, even cockroaches, and other insects that harm plants and animals. In addition to their spectacularness, ants are able to hold forty times their weight. That is the equivalent of carrying forty teens on your back! Ants, although seemingly pesty, are helpers to soil, plants, and our communities!!!
Poems: Amelia Terror in Nature The wind shifts Blowing useless hot air around The trees around me start to mutter amongst themselves And birds start to scream To my right Top heavy flowers try their best to stand upright Holding tight to their petals Fear running up and down their stems Praying The wind slowly creeps away Erasing the panic Does fear help you move forward in life or does it hold you back? -Amelia World on World The ground cracks beneath my feet Beneath all our feet Especially yours Water pours in trying to fill in the mistakes Just making your heart colder than it already was With you gone I lie down The grass meets my hair And the sun makes its way into my eyes I do not fall through I am held up by another world Tell me This world on top of world Was it an accident? Or have you taken it for granted Wake up to find out You’re not alive Because all the soil is gone -Amelia
Poems: Juliette Temporarily I lie under the thick grey blanket. It covers my face, my feet, my body. The little air between me and the blanket is hot and heavily perfumed with rosemary. I dream of butterflies with ivory wings and black stripes. Like zebras, like the key of a piano. Like the static on an old television set. I dream that I am sitting on a stone bench, surrounded by birds and trees and friends. We are writing poetry and sucking on popsicles, trying to make them last longer. The air is weighed down by the smell of orange popsicles, children and rosemary. A dog barks. A car honks and revs its engine. Girls squeal at the sight of a bee. I sit up, strangled by the itchy blanket, sore from the hard mattress. Sweaty and cold. I look out my bedroom window to a bleak miserable world. Paradise is temporary. -Juliette
Dirt Returning to Dirt A crow’s eyes reflect the image of a small girl in a garden. Her skin and dress are covered with dirt. A hula hoop dances along her hips, threatening to fall into the dirt. One day, she will be buried in the dirt. When she dies, her body will be broken down into the very soil that dresses her. Her body will grow grass, trees, and flowers. Her body will grow a home for critters. Her body will travel through water, scatter in the wind. By now, her elders have died, and returned to the dirt. One day her children will die, and be buried in the dirt. The memory of the girl will be lost, yet remain in the dirt. She will help grow fields and orchards. The children of her children will taste the fruit she nurtured. The hula hoop circles on, life, then death, next soil, and life again. The crow flies away, picked up and thrown by the wind, like a small child throwing a toy. -Juliette
Poems: Summer Blue Jay There is a small blue jay sitting on the porch It perches way above my head and stays there Watching attentively, aware of its surroundings It brushes against the bright green grass. After that, it flies away just like that “I hate the dirt” But my bare feet touch the silky grass and the dark dirt For a moment I felt I was connected Through the soil to the blue jay -Summer A Full Life in the Garden Above me, many harmonicas zoom through the blue sky. and white cotton candy is left there without any airplanes in sight. There’s something rough, kind of like a speed bump on a rickety road. It touches my arm and back. To explain it as a chair would be almost too simple. I look around. To my right, a tree hovers over me, and it’s leaves chatter. To my left, a spider web glistens in the midafternoon sun. It is hot, but the shade moves the sun far, far away. Off in the distance children wander. They race and speed through the bushes, As if the land isn’t sacred. As if, there is no peace. My life is full for the moment. -Summer
Letter From Editor: Juliette Dearest readers, In the past two weeks, I have learned how soil is made, why soil matters, the type and benefit of organisms that dwell in the soil, and much, much more. Before this unit, I did not know very much about soil. I would have told anyone who asked; soil is a dark brown material that is made up of rock particles, organic materials, and minerals. ‘Soil; the upper layer of earth in which plants grow, a black or dark brown material typically consisting of a mixture of organic remains, clay, and rock particles’ is the dictionary definition. The two definitions are very similar. I always knew about why soil is important to life on earth. Soil gives home and food to plants, soil supports our buildings and communities, soil houses thousands of organism (some of them still to be discovered). But I never gave it much thought. I never stopped and thought, ‘What would life be without soil?’ This is a question that all people should be asking, as our topsoil is beginning to degrade. Topsoil is the layer of earth closest to the surface. Topsoil degradation occurs when polluted and/or disturbed natural areas are left vulnerable (after trees being cut down, oil drilling, etc.) to the wind, sun, and rain. The soil erodes away leaving layers of dirt that contain less nutrients, and therefore are less likely to support new (healthy) vegetation. When I learned of this issue, it gave me chills. It takes five hundred years for one-two centimeters of soil to accumulate; we cannot just make new soil in a decade. Soil takes thousands of years to develop. Soil is made up of rock, mineral, water, air, and humus. Soil starts of as rock. It is exposed to rain, wind, ice, which break down into two processes called weathering and erosion. Weathering - Weathering is the process of breaking down rocks and minerals and soil through contact to the atmosphere. Erosion - Erosion is the process in which rocks are moved/broken down by the atmosphere. Both processes take thousands of years to complete. After both processes are complete, small plants begin to grow in the rock-like soil. Their roots break up the rock into even smaller pieces. When the plants die, Their organic material form a layer over the ‘soil’ that makes it even more fertile (this organic material is called humus, which is composed of dead plants, animals/insects, and dung.). Larger plants and animals start to inhabit the more livable soil. The humus builds up and makes the soil even more livable for more (and more complex) organisms. After learning the delicate and long process of dirt accumulation, I have been looking at soil in a different pair of eyes. While visiting the Arlington Gardens, I was stunned to see a beer bottle, several plastic forks, and chicken bones lying around a garden chair. ‘Have some respect!’ I wanted to yell. This lovely chair was surrounded by beautiful sounds, sights, smells, and was scarred by the trash. I picked up the garbage, and sent a silent message to the litterer. “The soil on which you so thoughtlessly left your garbage on took five hundred years to accumulate. Not only are you disrespecting the people who have to pick it up, you are disrespecting the science and the beauty of the garden!’ What makes me sad is that in fifty years, if this behavior continues, Arlington Gardens maybe be mowed over. Chemical cement will be laid thickly over the soil beds, blocking life, like a blanket shutting out the light. A mall with an Apple and a Forever 21! will be built and advertised. And all the while, the birds will be watching from the nearby roofs. The soil unit opened my eyes to a whole different world, and made me wonder about the future. Sincerely, Juliette
Letter From Editor: Summer 5/27/14 Dear Readers, I have learned so much in the past week, you would never believe it. On the first day of the soil unit, we went to Arlington Garden. Arlington garden is the most beautiful place. It extremely peaceful there. I enjoyed sitting on a bench in the middle of the garden and just listening to the sounds and trying to write my poem in that setting. It was sort of challenging trying to pay attention to the teachers because my eyes kept wandering around. I kept discovering new things around the garden, whether it was that a bush had some super tiny flowers or that there was another pathway out to another part of the garden. At the garden, there was a labyrinth. A labyrinth is like a maze and is used to find peace. All of us, in the seventh grade (that were at the garden) went through the labyrinth and it helped me concentrate and find a center. The highlight of that day for me was the labyrinth. The next day, we learned about gardens and food. I learned that 40% of America’s food came from victory gardens in the 1800’s. That was very surprising. We also learned about Fibonacci numbers and how Fibonacci numbers come up in nature. That was fascinating to me. One of the days, we went out into the Arroyo Forest and half of the grade mulched and the other half weeded. I was a mulcher. That was the most fun day in my opinion. We took mulch and laid it down on top of the dangerous grass. It was challenging and exciting at the same time. The best part of that was rolling the wheel barrows down this hill so that you could get more mulch. I was very proud that day because I got to help the world a little bit, as well as do something fun. The last thing we did was we helped around the Westridge campus. I really appreciated the people that came to help us. Overall the soil unit was fantastic and I hope I continue to learn about soil. I also will take away from this experience, the feeling of doing something good for the earth and wanting to do something for the earth.
Sincerely, One of your editors: Summer
Letter From Editor: Amelia Dear readers, The soil unit was a very interesting unit, I learned many new facts about soil that I did not know before and I had a great time. The first day of the soil unit we dove straight into it. We went to the Arlington garden, and I thought it was really cool how we connected science, english, and history with activities we did there. The second day I learned a lot about victory gardens, especially the one in front of the civic center in San Francisco. I thought it was really fascinating how just one garden can bring a big community together while also helping the environment. I also learned about Fibonacci number in flower petals, and we got to go around campus looking for Fibonacci flowers which was really fun. It was really interesting to see how math connected to soil unit. The third day I learned the difference between the process of how most corn is grown and sold, versus the process of how an organic tomato with no pesticides is grown and sold. It was so surprising to see how different the processes were from each other. That night it actually made me wonder where my food came from before I ate. Then we learned about soil formation which was something I never learned about soil, and I thought it was awesome to see how the soil breaks down forming horizons overtime when we watched animations. The next day we went on a field trip, and our group learned how to mulch. What surprised me was that mulch helps both in droughts and floods. I loved getting down and dirty and I also made sure I tried all of the jobs, first shoveling the mulch into the wheelbarrow, then I tried the job of taking the mulch out of the wheelbarrow and patting it down in an area needed. Then lastly I tried wheeling the wheelbarrows full of mulch to the area, which for me was the hardest one. The field trip was really fun and a great learning experience. The next day we worked with our groups to get as much done as we could, and I feel like our group make great progress and we really work well as a team. The last day we had visitors come from the Arboretum, and we had different stations where we learned and made different things about seeds, soil, flowers, and trees and we did some more hands on work. I learned new tips on what helps plant grow and the correct way to plant them. I also learned what a seed ball was a how to make one, which was so cool. It was a great way to learn new things. The whole soil unit taught me so much, and I had such a fun time doing it. From, Amelia , Editor
Independent Projects: Amelia
Starting from the bottom I cut out photos of soil from magazines, then I cut out photos of grass. Then from there I cut out photos of beautiful flowers and fresh organic fruit and vegetables.
Independent Projects: Summer
This is a tree that is made out of soil and leaves from my backyard. I decided to make a tree because it symbolizes how much I’ve learned in the soil unit. I took chalk and drew a tree and then put the soil over it and layered the top with leaves. I used soil because soil is brown and most tree trunks are brown, so I thought that it would be interesting.
Independent Projects: Juliette
This magnificent world is in a drought. People hear of this draught and gasp. This reaction lasts for about one minute, if not that. When driving down the street, I will see manicured lawns, with every blade of grass hand cut. Flower boxes holding roses and tulips. Sprinklers, watering both grass and pavement. People reactions last so short because they do not want to give up the luxuries water bestows. Succulents, also known as fat plants, are plants that conserve water. They are often called fat plants because of their thick, fleshy leaves and stalks, which are designed to retains moisture so the plant might survive in extremely dry, arid conditions. In cold weather, the water in the plant’s stem and leaves freezes, often killing the plant. Not only do succulents save water, they save time. Because you do not have to water them (only twice a week) you save the time you would be using to water roses and tulips. Some succulents are used in medicines or are directly used as remedies. One common and very well known medicinal succulent is Aloe Vera. The leaves of Aloe Vera contain a watery gel which are applied to burns. You can get a bottle of Aloe Vera at the drugstore to treat sunburns and peeling skin.
Who Wore It Best??
Check a box! Apple
Orange
Watermelon
Banana
Juliette’s Artwork!
Propaganda Poster