Science Fair
Zoe’s Science Fair project on the effect on soil health of organic versus conventional farming methods is finally finished. Well, not quite. The three judges at her school, Hawthorne Scholastic Academy, each gave it a score of 100 out of 100, and now it will be going to the regional competition in January. Zoe’s science teacher, Ms. Sonja Suzanne Oliveri, has been a great mentor for her throughout this process.
The project was a lot of fun. We took a trip to the Angelic Organics farm in Caledonia, IL, at the end of August to get a first-hand tour of an organic farm. Special thanks are due AO’s Deb Crockett for all her help. Then in October we took soil samples from Angelic Organics and a conventional farm to A&L Great Lakes Laboratories in Ft. Wayne, IN, for testing. A&L’s lab director Lois Parker graciously gave us a complete tour of the facility, despite the fact that we came at their busiest time of year.
The test results showed the organic soil was higher in nutrients, had much more organic matter, and was better able to hold nutrients for crops to use - three key tests of soil health. Plus, the organic soil looked like real dirt, while the other soil looked like lumpy clay.
Zoe will make a few changes for the district competition; chiefly getting more samples to test in order to make statistically stronger conclusions. She worked very hard on this - her research paper was about 35 pages - and it’s great to see her getting the recognition. Good work and good luck!
Kathy said,
November 14, 2006 @ 12:10 pm
Great work, Zoe! Exploring the global ecological benefits of organic farming is timely and important research. If you need any help for the district competition, I have an organic farming encyclopedia (old, but reliable) which talks about what effect particular crops have on the nutrient content of the soil - probably nothing you can’t find on the internets, but something to consider when conducting nutrient analyses.
Congratulations & good luck!! You are so amazing!
-Kathy
Jack said,
November 14, 2006 @ 1:41 pm
Way to go, Zoe! Where is the regional competition held?
Barb said,
November 14, 2006 @ 7:10 pm
Congratulation, Zoe! This is really great work, and I’m sure you’ll do well in the regional!
(And for those of us who are a bit older - this beats the snot out of our science projects - leaving an egg sitting in a covered dish for a week and describing the mold process - eh?)
Farmer John Peterson said,
March 25, 2007 @ 5:16 pm
Cool, Zoe!
Soil is such a mystery. We work with it at Angelic Organics in myriad ways to build it up: crop rotation; microbial sprays; fallowing half the land each yr; composting; biodynamic sprays…the list goes on. Building up the soil and wondering how to acheive soil health are two of my favorite things about farming.
Congratulatilons on your project!
Farmer John, Angelic Organics