Soil Science Creative Expression: It Isn't Just STEM, Making Connections Through Art and Culture.

Soil science is an interdisciplinary and often integral part of many of the basic sciences, yet it is unrecognized by most people outside of the field.  Because of this, facilitators and K-12 teachers may not know that soils can provide rich fodder for teaching memorable, experiential science. Soil has been culturally significant to humans since the beginning of time.  Telling these cultural stories while recreating art forms promotes creativity and awareness of soil science. Creativity leads to the innovation needed to perform innovative and groundbreaking research.  This can result in more students studying soil science, especially if teachers are properly trained. The primary objective of this program was to increase soil awareness, cultural knowledge, and facilitation skills in formal and informal education professionals. The secondary objective was to create participants that can bridge science and arts curriculum and incorporate that into teaching activities. A four hour seminar was run at three different locations. Participants were taught skills in three categories: soils technical skills, cultural stories, and teaching methods.  The participants then used these skills to create a soils field guide,  texture soils, and determine appropriate crafts based on their locations. Some of the created crafts were wire wrapped soils jewelry, African Mud Cloth, and sand art.