the ground is alive

with the work of microbes

the soil under your feet is alive with more than just earthworms and bugs. heres an experiment you can do to see just how alive it is.
Jason cryan

First, read about soil and how it is made, as well as bacteria and what they eat. second, pick your HypotHesis for example: soil is dead, so no bacteria will grow. soil is alive, so bacteria will grow. a change will occur, but not because of bacteria. third, test your hypothesis by building a Winogradsky column, a device invented by scientist sergei Winogradsky in the 1880s. suPPlies clear, 2-liter soda bottle clean paint stirrer soil water nutrients foil 40-watt lamp plastic wrap and elastic band some way to record results
[top] this particular planthopper (Phromnia rosea) is only found on madagascar. Here, a single white immature planthopper is flanked by adults whose color is a near match for the blooms on its favorite host plant. [above] these immature spittlebugs from the genus Ptyelus were photographed in Zambia.

Procedure rinse your soda bottle with soap and water until clean. remove the label. cut off the top of the bottle at the point where the bottle curves toward the spout. discard the top the rest of the bottle will be your column. collect enough soil to fill the bottle. soil can come from a variety of places: pond, lake or river edges soil or sand near the ocean your backyard

Jason cryan

reMove any leaves, sticks, rocks or other debris, and break up any clumps so the soil is a uniform mixture. add water from that same location to the soil and mix it with a clean paint stirrer until it is like thick cream. do not add too much water. Mix nutrients into the soil. nutrients include sources of sugar, carbon, sulfur, phosphorus, nitrogen and minerals. examples are: shredded newspapers or paper towels (sugar and carbon); raw egg or powdered hard-boiled egg yolk (sulfur); manure, ground-up dried grass, leaves or pine needles (nitrogen and phosphorus); and ground-up egg shells or baking soda (minerals). add the soil, water and nutrient mix to the bottle, a couple of inches at a time. use the paint stirrer to remove all air bubbles and pat the mixture down. fill to within 3 inches of the top. pour 1 inch of the remaining water over the surface of the soil mix. cover the bottle with plastic wrap held on by an elastic band. cover the entire column in foil and leave it like this for two weeks. then unwrap the foil and shine a lamp with a 40-watt bulb on the column (24 hours a day) or place the column in a sunny window. periodically remove the plastic wrap to release any trapped gas. results, conclusions & Further investigations observe the container over the next several months and record/photograph your results. We invite you to share your results and compare them to others at naturalscienceseducation.wordpress.com/tag/Winogradsky. you can also visit the nature research centers Winogradsky column exhibit and the micro World investigate lab (both on the second floor) to learn more. deb Bailey, co-coordinator of the Micro World Investigate Lab

whereas other species are more sedate and camouflaged. Still others carry long spines on the tops of their bodies, the function of which is unknown. planthoppers are tremendously diverse insects, with more than 9,000 described species. The most extraordinary-looking planthoppers are popularly known as lanternflies. Some, like the peanut-headed bug (Fulgora laternaria), have bizarrely elaborate heads and are frequently used as icons of tropical biodiversity. Despite their sometimes fearsome appearance, like the dragon-headed bug (Phrictus quinquipartitus), lanternflies can neither bite nor sting and are completely harmless. Using comparative DNA sequencing, I am attempting to discover how these bizarre shapes have evolved, where and when these insects originated, and how they came to be distributed around the world. For more information about my work, and additional images, visit www.naturalsciences.org/jason-cryan.

N.C. Naturalist 5