MOLINE- We are starting a new segment on Good Morning Quad Cities called, 'Ag in the Classroom,' where we find ways teachers can tie agriculture into their lessons.
Wednesday, May 16, DeAnne Bloomberg, Manager of the Rock Island County Farm Bureau, showed us how important the soil is to our earth, and all she needed was an apple and a knife. The lesson was called, 'A Slice of Soil.'
1. Cut an apple into four equal parts. Three parts represent the oceans ofthe world. The fourth part represents the land area.
2. Cut the land section in half lengthwise. Now you have two 1/8 pieces. One section represents land such as deserts, swamps, antarctic, arctic, and mountain regions. The other 1/8 section represents land where man can live and may or may not be able to grow food.
3. Slice this 1/8 section crosswise into four equal parts. Three of these 1/32 sections represent the areas of the world that are too rocky, too wet, too hot, or where soils are too poor to grow food. Plus, we can’t grow food on some land because cities and other man-made structures are built on it.
4. Carefully peel the last 1/32 section. The peel on this small piece represents the amount of soil on which we have to grow food. This amount of soil will never get any bigger. With so little soil and so many people on the earth, how are we able to grow enough food to feed everybody?