Dig it! The Secrets of Soil
Why an exhibit about soils?
Soils Sustain Life! Without soils, we would be hungry, homeless, and naked. We grow our food in soil, the materials for our homes come from soil, and many of the fabrics we wear come from...you guessed it, SOIL!
The physical display of Dig It! The Secrets of Soil, settled down in St. Louis, Missouri, in April, 2017. This final home for Dig It! came after years of traveling around the country, informing the general public about soil science (see below for listing of locations). The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History developed the display in 2006, and the Soil Science Society of America was its founding sponsor. Several SSSA members served on the developing committee.
Now Dig It! has a new life, in the form of “Dig It! DIY”, a downloadable set of infographic panels and an online guide. And, it’s free – in thanks partly to another grant from SSSA via the Agronomic Science Foundation (ASF). You can even make a public display at a library, or other public space!
Dig It! DIY is an downloadable version of sixteen panels that you can select and print for whatever location fits your needs! Bring this knowledge of soils to your community – at your university, workplace, even a community center. Best of all, it’s free! Here are just a few of the messages from the downloadable Dig It! DIY exhibit:
- Soil is the skin of the earth, and there are many types of soils.
- Soil ingredients depend on climate, organisms and other factors.
- Soil in flux - it begins to form when organic matter or rocks are exposed and develop over time. It can even evolve over time!
- Soil links Earth's air, water and land. It even impacts climate change.
- Soil is filled with microscopic organisms - whose impacts are anything but tiny!
Navigate to the Smithsonian's Dig It! DIY page and start your exhibit today! To visit the Smithsonian's online Dig It education page, click here.
History and locations of the Dig it! exhibit
When it was first developed, Dig It was a physical display in Washington, DC, then it travelled around the country. Image Credit: SV Fisk
- 2006-2008: Created by Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, Washington DC (See Smithsonian’s "Dig It!" website)
- July 2008-Jan. 2010: On display at Smithsonian, Washington DC
- Oct. 2010-Dec. 2010: Durham Museum, Omaha, NE
- Feb. 2012-Sept. 2012: Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture, Spokane, WA
- Nov. 2012-July 2013: Bell Museum of Natural History, Minneapolis, MN
- May 2014-March 2015: The California Museum, Sacramento, CA
- May 2015-Aug. 2015: North Carolina Natural Sciences Museum, Raleigh, NC
- April 2017-Present: Dig It! lives permanently at the Saint Louis Science Center in St. Louis, MO! Be sure to visit:
- Soil monoliths in the center's GROW exhibit
- ‘At Home in the World of Soil’ diorama
- ‘Underneath it All’ diorama
- 2019 - present: Dig It! Do-It-Yourself available for download.
The display was developed by the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History with support from SSSA. Generous support from Lead Sponsor, the Nutrients for Life Foundation, as well as Bayer CropScience, LI-COR Biosciences, Syngenta, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture also made the exhibit possible.
