Cartoon about life on Earth
Do you know how many tiny insects and microscopic animals live in living topsoil? Join earthworm MetteMarkus on an adventure and sing the sprout song. Together with the Bounce Tail gang and other friendly earthlings, they help Frøydis and the thousand wheat seeds in the field grow, so that they become grain so we can bake bread. The cartoon is a collaboration between Vitenparken and the Kore Foundation, and is made with support from the Eckbos endowment.
Down-to-earth cartoon
Micro-life in the soil is important for food production. Most people are familiar with earthworms, but bacteria, nematodes, protozoa, fungi, arthropods and bacteria often receive less attention. Soil organisms have a huge impact on soil fertility, plant growth, soil structure and carbon storage. In our experience, there is very little popularised and visualised information on this topic. Soil conservation is about ensuring that today's population and our descendants have the opportunity to grow their own food on their own land.
Based on new research and professional information about the importance of micro-life in topsoil, we have created a 5-minute animated film about living topsoil. The film is both fun and informative, and the characters work together to maintain good soil health. Here, the audience gets an insight into the function of the various soil organisms in the food web that makes up ecosystems in soil.
School programs in green surroundings
The film constitutes the academic content of an educational program for students. The school program has been developed by the educational department at Vitenparken and is called Poop and Sustainability . Did you know that all living things were once poop? The nutrients in nature have their own cycle. In the teaching program, the students look at earthworm poop and perhaps the poop of some larger animals. They meet MetteMarkus the earthworm and other crawlies that work in the dark to make our food, and hear the fairy tale about the earthworm and the bread seed. In addition, the children make a small earthworm terrarium that they take back to school.
Scientists uncover Earth mysteries
Are you interested in topsoil? Find the latest research on topsoil in the research database Kore . Here you can stay up to date on knowledge about the nutrient network in topsoil and how soil quality affects the quality of food crops. Compost, biochar, tillage and fertilizer are other keywords for what you can find in the database. In the Kore database you will also find fact sheets and other online resources that you can use in your own articles, lectures or teaching.
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Would you like to know more about this project? Send an email to elise@vitenparken.no.