WEBVTT 00:00.600 --> 00:03.436 position:10% line:85% size:80% Joan Cartan-Hansen, Host: There's a lot more to the study 00:03.436 --> 00:05.805 position:10% line:85% size:80% of dirt than just looking at soil. 00:05.805 --> 00:07.407 position:10% line:85% size:80% It's a job for soil scientists. 00:07.407 --> 00:11.311 position:10% line:85% size:80% But you might be surprised just who a soil scientist might be. 00:11.311 --> 00:16.015 position:10% line:85% size:80% [MUSIC] Cartan-Hansen: You don't have to 00:16.015 --> 00:18.852 position:10% line:85% size:80% wait until you're in college to learn how to become a soil 00:18.852 --> 00:19.953 position:10% line:85% size:80% scientist. 00:19.953 --> 00:22.889 position:10% line:85% size:80% These Kuna High School students are about to show off their soil 00:22.889 --> 00:24.257 position:10% line:85% size:80% scientist skills. 00:24.257 --> 00:27.494 position:10% line:85% size:80% They're competing in the Idaho State Land and Soil Evaluation 00:27.494 --> 00:30.663 position:10% line:85% size:80% Career Development Event contest. 00:30.663 --> 00:33.900 position:10% line:85% size:80% Hal Swenson, NRCS State Soil Scientist: Kids here today are 00:33.900 --> 00:37.904 position:10% line:85% size:80% involved in a contest of judging soil and land to help to 00:37.904 --> 00:41.708 position:10% line:85% size:80% determine its best use and to help determine whether the land 00:41.708 --> 00:46.446 position:10% line:85% size:80% is suitable for agriculture or how suitable, what kind of crops 00:46.446 --> 00:48.181 position:10% line:85% size:80% and tillage should be here. 00:48.181 --> 00:51.451 position:10% line:85% size:80% We also have two sites that they judge for a home site to 00:51.451 --> 00:55.021 position:10% line:85% size:80% determine the suitability for building a home with the 00:55.021 --> 00:59.159 position:10% line:85% size:80% appropriate structures that go with that. 00:59.159 --> 01:01.895 position:10% line:85% size:80% Cartan-Hansen: In the competition, the teams of five 01:01.895 --> 01:05.665 position:10% line:85% size:80% people investigate each of six pits dug into the ground. 01:05.665 --> 01:09.169 position:10% line:85% size:80% They examine the soil by looking at the soil horizon. 01:09.169 --> 01:12.172 position:10% line:85% size:80% The layers of topsoil and sub-soil. 01:12.172 --> 01:15.141 position:10% line:85% size:80% Dina Hopson, Kuna High School Student: I go through, and I'm 01:15.141 --> 01:16.776 position:10% line:85% size:80% checking for the erosion loss. 01:16.776 --> 01:19.946 position:10% line:85% size:80% So I take my soil-picking tool and you pick through the dirt 01:19.946 --> 01:23.516 position:10% line:85% size:80% until you get where there's a change in how you feel it or 01:23.516 --> 01:25.151 position:10% line:85% size:80% what's going on. 01:25.151 --> 01:27.821 position:10% line:85% size:80% Cartan-Hansen: They also classify the soil by doing 01:27.821 --> 01:29.522 position:10% line:85% size:80% something called texturing. 01:29.522 --> 01:32.392 position:10% line:85% size:80% Jeremiah Hellewell, Kuna High School Student: We grab the 01:32.392 --> 01:33.359 position:10% line:85% size:80% soil. 01:33.359 --> 01:36.329 position:10% line:85% size:80% We're trying to find what the different sizes are. 01:36.329 --> 01:39.866 position:10% line:85% size:80% And so there's sand, which is the largest and then silt, which 01:39.866 --> 01:41.601 position:10% line:85% size:80% is the middle one and then clay. 01:41.601 --> 01:44.704 position:10% line:85% size:80% Usually you want a silt because it's not too big and not too 01:44.704 --> 01:45.472 position:10% line:85% size:80% small. 01:45.472 --> 01:48.575 position:10% line:85% size:80% And so what we do is we get it wet because you can't really 01:48.575 --> 01:51.578 position:10% line:85% size:80% tell because sometimes the clay will like build up with each 01:51.578 --> 01:54.747 position:10% line:85% size:80% other and they stick together a lot, so you have to break it 01:54.747 --> 01:56.115 position:10% line:85% size:80% down using the water. 01:56.115 --> 01:59.319 position:10% line:85% size:80% And then for sands, it will be gritty and for silt, it will be 01:59.319 --> 02:02.388 position:10% line:85% size:80% smooth and clay will stick together a lot, so it will be 02:02.388 --> 02:05.692 position:10% line:85% size:80% hard to move around and it will stick together really well and 02:05.692 --> 02:08.294 position:10% line:85% size:80% that's how we can tell the difference. 02:08.294 --> 02:11.364 position:10% line:85% size:80% Cartan-Hansen: The students also determine the slope of the land, 02:11.364 --> 02:13.833 position:10% line:85% size:80% the angle at which the land falls or climbs. 02:13.833 --> 02:16.669 position:10% line:85% size:80% Knowing the slope helps determine water runoff and 02:16.669 --> 02:19.205 position:10% line:85% size:80% whether the soils are vulnerable to erosion. 02:19.205 --> 02:22.008 position:10% line:85% size:80% That's important to know, especially if you are picking a 02:22.008 --> 02:23.576 position:10% line:85% size:80% place to build a house. 02:23.576 --> 02:26.880 position:10% line:85% size:80% Hellewell: And then the other things that we do is, they give 02:26.880 --> 02:29.949 position:10% line:85% size:80% us numbers on a placard, which is a board with a bunch of 02:29.949 --> 02:33.520 position:10% line:85% size:80% information on it, and they are nutrients that are found in 02:33.520 --> 02:36.422 position:10% line:85% size:80% fertilizers, and they tell you how much is in the soil. 02:36.422 --> 02:42.395 position:10% line:85% size:80% And so then knowing whether or not the soil on a PH scale is 02:42.395 --> 02:46.599 position:10% line:85% size:80% below 7 or above 7, you can determine what types of 02:46.599 --> 02:49.502 position:10% line:85% size:80% nutrients you need, and so they tell us that how many nutrients 02:49.502 --> 02:52.071 position:10% line:85% size:80% there are and we determine whether we need to add more or 02:52.071 --> 02:53.439 position:10% line:85% size:80% not. 02:53.439 --> 02:56.609 position:10% line:85% size:80% Swenson: Most of these kids come from an agricultural background, 02:56.609 --> 03:00.246 position:10% line:85% size:80% so they're interested in learning this to help them maybe 03:00.246 --> 03:03.850 position:10% line:85% size:80% go back to run their own operation at some time. 03:03.850 --> 03:10.123 position:10% line:85% size:80% The kids that don't do that, they're learning about how to 03:10.123 --> 03:14.460 position:10% line:85% size:80% judge a site for suitability for a home. 03:14.460 --> 03:17.430 position:10% line:85% size:80% Cartan-Hansen: The students mark all the required information 03:17.430 --> 03:20.133 position:10% line:85% size:80% down for each pit on their own sheets. 03:20.133 --> 03:23.202 position:10% line:85% size:80% It takes real skill to be able to answer all the questions and 03:23.202 --> 03:25.738 position:10% line:85% size:80% students from all over the state compete. 03:25.738 --> 03:29.642 position:10% line:85% size:80% Each team member's sheets are scored, combined and the top two 03:29.642 --> 03:33.313 position:10% line:85% size:80% scoring teams will go on to represent Idaho in the national 03:33.313 --> 03:34.581 position:10% line:85% size:80% competition. 03:34.581 --> 03:37.383 position:10% line:85% size:80% Hopson: Yeah, I think it's a good learning experience. 03:37.383 --> 03:40.053 position:10% line:85% size:80% You get to go out and meet new people, and you get to 03:40.053 --> 03:42.655 position:10% line:85% size:80% experience things you wouldn't normally experience. 03:42.655 --> 03:45.491 position:10% line:85% size:80% Hellewell: I'm doing this because we have a class for it, 03:45.491 --> 03:48.461 position:10% line:85% size:80% but also to gain more knowledge about agriculture and other 03:48.461 --> 03:51.965 position:10% line:85% size:80% things so that way I can potentially do things on my own 03:51.965 --> 03:56.336 position:10% line:85% size:80% instead of hiring someone to do it and also possibly pursuing a 03:56.336 --> 03:59.205 position:10% line:85% size:80% profession in agriculture. 03:59.205 --> 04:01.975 position:10% line:85% size:80% Cartan-Hansen: The team from Kuna didn't win today's 04:01.975 --> 04:04.744 position:10% line:85% size:80% competition, but they did learn something important. 04:04.744 --> 04:06.145 position:10% line:85% size:80% Hopson: It's not just dirt. 04:06.145 --> 04:07.614 position:10% line:85% size:80% There's more to it. 04:07.614 --> 04:11.250 position:10% line:85% size:80% Cartan-Hansen: If you want to learn more about soil, check out 04:11.250 --> 04:12.619 position:10% line:85% size:80% the science trek website. 04:12.619 --> 04:15.855 position:10% line:85% size:80% You'll find it at science trek dot org. 04:15.855 --> 04:36.909 position:10% line:85% size:80% [MUSIC] ANNOUNCER: Presentation of 04:36.909 --> 04:39.746 position:10% line:85% size:80% Science Trek on Idaho Public Television is made possible 04:39.746 --> 04:42.982 position:10% line:85% size:80% through the generous support of the Laura Moore Cunningham 04:42.982 --> 04:46.052 position:10% line:85% size:80% Foundation, committed to fulfilling the Moore and Bettis 04:46.052 --> 04:49.922 position:10% line:85% size:80% family legacy of building the great state of Idaho. 04:49.922 --> 04:53.159 position:10% line:85% size:80% By the Idaho National Laboratory, mentoring talent and 04:53.159 --> 04:57.830 position:10% line:85% size:80% finding solutions for energy and security challenges, by The 04:57.830 --> 05:00.433 position:10% line:85% size:80% Friends of Idaho Public Television and by the 05:00.433 --> 05:03.736 position:10% line:85% size:80% Corporation for Public Broadcasting.