กิจกรรมความรู้และศิลปะทางดิน soil art and science

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Script for soil art and science activity

Now, all of you had learned about basic soil science from the Soil Museum. Then, we
are going to apply that knowledge and using your imagination for creative soil arts.

Before we start our creative soil arts. I will repeat about soil layer, when we imagine it
into 2 or 3 dimensions. Because in our activities, we are going to use soil layer knowledge to
make the keychain and bookmark as souvenir that you can take back after we finished
activities.

We have already prepared the equipment to make on the table. We will divide the
group into 4 groups, the first 2 groups on the left hand side. There will be an activity to
make a model of the key chain layer and the other 2 groups on the right hand side.

Before we are going to do activities let me remind the for soil layers
Layers of Soil
The soil profile is composed of a series of horizons or layers of soil stacked one on top of
the other. These layers or horizons are represented by letters O, A, E, C, B and R.

The O-Horizon
The O horizon is the upper layer of the topsoil which is mainly composed of organic
materials such as dried leaves, grasses, dead leaves, small rocks, twigs, surface organisms,
fallen trees, and other decomposed organic matter. This horizon of soil is often black brown
or dark brown in colour and this is mainly because of the presence of organic content.

The A-Horizon or Topsoil
This layer is rich in organic material and is known as the humus layer. This layer consists of
both organic matter and other decomposed materials. The topsoil is soft and porous to
hold enough air and water.
In this layer, the seed germination takes place and new roots are produced which grows into
a new plant. This layer consists of microorganisms such as earthworms, fungi, bacteria, etc.

The E-Horizon
This layer is composed of nutrients leached from the O and A horizons. This layer is more
common in forested areas and has lower clay content.

The B-Horizon or Subsoil

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It is the subsurface horizon, present just below the topsoil and above the bedrock. It is
comparatively harder and more compact than topsoil. It contains less humus, soluble
minerals, and organic matter. It is a site of deposition of certain minerals and metal salts
such as iron oxide.
This layer holds more water than the topsoil and is lighter brown due to the presence of
clay soil. The soil of horizon-A and horizon-B is often mixed while ploughing the fields.

The C-Horizon or Saprolite
This layer is devoid of any organic matter and is made up of broken bedrock. This layer is
also known as saprolite. The geological material present in this zone is cemented.

The R-Horizon
It is a compacted and cemented layer. Different types of rocks such as granite, basalt and
limestone are found here.

Activity 1 Making a model of the key chain soil layer.

The materials used are as follows:
1. Keychain bottle size 8 ml. with stopper
2. Various soil textures and color
3. Small spoon
4. Small sticks

We will have a demonstration of how to do it first.
We start by using a small spoon to scoop the soil that we already prepared. Fill the bottle
starting at R layer, which is the small rock we prepared into the bottom first. Next, use the
prepared soil texture into next layers, the next step is C, B, A layers. We can imagine the
colors that we like. And the top soil layer, it will be the O layer, which is a dark colored. The
lid is closed tightly after finished.

Activity 2 Bookmark soil layer
The materials used are as follows:

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1. Bookmark, thickness 1 mm., size 5*15 cm.
2. Various soil textures and color
3. Small spoon
4. Small sticks

We will have a demonstration of how to do it first.
The process of making this bookmark are peeling off the double-sided adhesive sheet
attached to the bookmark. Then use a spoon to scoop various soil textures and color that
we have already prepared sprinkle a layer onto each soil layers according to the layer of A,
B, C and R. We can imagine the color that we like.