Kansas Soil to be Included in New Natural History Exhibition at the Smithsonian Institute

SALINA, Kansas, July 21, 2008-The Kansas state soil, the Harney Silt Loam, will be among those included in a historic new exhibition at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. The exhibition, entitled "Dig It! The Secrets of Soil," opened July 19, and will remain on display in the Nation's Capital through January 3, 2010. Thereafter, it will travel to 10 museums nationwide until 2013.

The exhibit will likely awe visitors with seemingly improbable facts on this underfoot resource. The abundance of life in soil is one such example. It turns out there are more living creatures in a shovelful of soil than there are human beings on the planet; so many organisms contribute to the health of soil that scientists have not even named them all. Yet, the exhibit tells us, more is known about the dark side of the moon than about soil.

The exhibit aims to improve soil literacy with a 5,000-square-foot exhibition revealing the complex soil ecosystem and how it supports nearly every form of life on Earth. The exhibit includes interactive displays, hands-on models, videos and soil samples.

Budding detectives are likely to enjoy the crime scene investigation video focusing on the processes of decay, while a computer kiosk allows visitors to learn about their state soil.

The Kansas state soil, Harney Silt Loam, will be displayed along with 53 other designated state and territory soils. The Harney, found in northcentral Kansas, represents just one of the thousands of soils identified and mapped in Kansas as part of the National Cooperative Soil Survey lead by NRCS. "Dig It!" shows the public how every type of soil is unique.

For more information about the traveling exhibition, visit www.sites.si.edu/soils. Additional information about "Dig It! The Secrets of Soil" is available at http://forces.si.edu/soils. The National Museum of Natural History is located at 10th Street and Constitution Avenue N.W. in Washington, D.C. Admission is free.

"Not traveling to Washington, D.C. anytime soon," said Cleveland Watts, State Soil Scientist, for the NRCS in Kansas, "Then attend the Kansas State Fair, September 5-14, 2008, and stop by the Kansas Conservation Partnership booth in the Pride of Kansas building and learn about the Kansas state soil, Harney Silt Loam. The booth "Conservation: Our Purpose. Our Passion." will have a soil monolith of Harney available for viewing and other information about soil and natural resources conservation. This booth is sponsored by the NRCS, State Conservation Commission, and the Kansas Association of Conservation Districts.

To learn even more about soil, fairgoers could stop by the AT&T stage on September 8, 9, 11, and 12, for an educational and entertaining show about soil performed by the "Soil Guys."

For more information about the soil in your local county, stop by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Service Center and visit with the NRCS or the conservation district staffs. More information is available at www.ks.nrcs.usda.gov.

Last Modified: 08/05/2008