Sixth Grade

McNear School

Soil Stories

 

Strong

Sally    

I’ve been trying to grow here for days, a small little plant.  This silty, powdery soil is hard to grow in, but I try.  Children were just here and trampled the other even smaller plants around me, trying to get to the creek bed, but the children left because it got cold.  Now it is raining and little puffs of dust rise around me.  The dirt is turning to mud, and the mud is beginning to slide!  Ahh!  Now I’m floating; the creek bed is now an actual creek.  The sun comes out and the creek slows. Now I am washed up against the bank; this dirt is better, fuller.  I am happy here.  I grow strong. I am strong and stable, a tree, and the small children climb in my cool branches and I look down on them. 

 

 

Standing Strong

            Kristina

 

Water washes against my side, but it cannot move me away.  The air outside is cold, but it doesn’t bother me.  In the winter, the waters rise high, and I expand as I soak up rain.  My soil holds little air, and hardly any plants can grow in me.  I have lots of vitamins and minerals, but my nutrients are very poor.  Sometimes I erode, and flow down the river.  I thrive in all conditions, in spring and summer.  When the river grows dry and cracked, I curl up and shrink. I form a solid bank for the creek, which laps against me.  I am strong and I don’t erode easily.  Sometimes I wish I was my friend Silty who lives on top of me.  In summer she frisks about, blown by the wind, and exploring the world.  Though she makes the river dirty and muddy when she comes in.  The riverbank on which I live is strong, thanks to me.  I am strong against plants and animals, which try to burrow into me.  I am black;  I stand strong;  I am proud of who I am.  I’m adobe.

 

Silty Soil

James

 

“I am silty soil and I live by a creek.  I’m powdery, dusty, and rocky.  Hey, and when I’m wet, I look good.  When I’m dry, I turn to powder.  But it’s rarely ever dry because it’s always raining.  Since I’m also on a slight hill, I erode.  I like it though, because I always am looking good.  But the bad thing is, I’m always moving since I’m so light weight.  You might not think I am light, because I’ve got rocks, but not many.  But I think I’m the best soil.”

 

 

 

 

 

Adobe Soil

                                                                                                                        Katie

 

I am adobe soil.  I live on a creek bed.  When I get wet, I expand and get sticky.  When I am dry, I get hard and I shrink.  I have poor nutrients.  I have rich vitamins and minerals.  I am thick and have less air in me than some other dirt.

My Journey

                                                                                                Hannah

 

Yes, I live in the soil, my food.  My food is silty and tasteless, but that will soon change.  As I crawl through my edible home, I stop occasionally to nibble on the wall of my tunnel; I have foraged to travel to my destination, the creek bank.

 

I have lived in the side of a hill on Brazil ranch for my whole life, but I have heard stories of paradise.  Some say that there is no place better in the world.  I have heard that many large willow trees grow on the creek bank.  Flourishing in spring showers and summer sun, their roots giving a strong netting, so that worms like me do not slip into the strong currents of rushing water.  There is soil so organic it would take billions of worms living in my home for 20 years for it to be organic.  Worms like me thrive in places like these!

 

3 years later

I’m here; I’m finally here.  Ahh!  I can taste the difference!  I have met many new friends in my time here.  There are feasts every night and the roots make good homes.  I am very happy in my new home!

 

 

Worms

                                                                                                Mirlena

 

Worm lines in many different dirts, mostly in adobe.  I like worms.  They are cool.  Worms don’t live in a creek because in a creek there is water, and worms die in water, so every time I save them.  Worms are very smooth, and they crawl on you.  I had a worm when I was little, but since I didn’t know they don’t like water, he died.  So then I have more worms like him or her.

 

 

A Day in the Life of Adobe

                                                                                                Laura

 

I sit on my riverbed, and I’m always lonely.  Only strong roots can enter my thick, glorious soil.  My domain is rich with vitamins and minerals.  I am very proud.  Very few creatures inhabit my soil.  Many a worm has tried to make my soil a home, but it proves so thick that they are discouraged, pack up their shovels and seek softer earth. 

 

My riverbed is very grateful of my stableness.  I am wet, and sticky and solid.  No stones and dust erode into the clear water.  But few vegetation grow in my soil.  Only strong plants are worthy, such as willow trees and native grasses.  They decorate my strong banks.

 

Once a baby cow ambled too close on one of my particularly sticky days.  His leg got stuck in my contracting soil.  It called for such a time that the farmer came to pull it out.  In the process he trampled my scarce grass!

 

But it has grown back now, and all is peaceful.  I love myself, but sometimes feel lonely. But I am use to it.

 

 

Silty

                                                                                                Shayna

 

“The type of soil I am is silt.  I live along a creek bed.  I am very light weight, powdery and dusty.  That means I often erode easily.  So I often change homes as I make my way down to the river and ocean.  I look very good when I am wet, but when I am dry, I turn to powder very fast!  I have very tiny roots and I am mainly made of smaller rocks rather than larger.  I am always happy in whichever spot my home is as long as I have my honey bun, Camorine.  She is my only reason for living.  However, she erodes more easily than me because she is made of smaller rocks and she is more light weight, but we always find a way to manage.”  And there you have it from our very own, Mrs. Silt!

 

 

I Am Adobe

                                                                                                Kaitlyn

 

I am adobe.  Last night it rained.  This morning a deer stepped on my, taking me with her when she walked away.  She has tried and tried to get me off with her other hoof, but I am dried and hard, a spot on her hoof.  Eventually I will come off, when it rains again.  But for now, I am a small hard blob, stuck on a deer’s hoof.

 

 

A dobe Clay

                                    B.N.

                                                                                               

Sticky or hard, wet or dry, I’m without nutrients but full of vitamins.  I don’t have much air in me.  Many people pick me up and feel my texture.  Although I am next to a creek it doesn’t affect me, except when I get sticky.  Through long summers I get dry and crack, and pieces of me are carried away.  Plants try to grow on me, in me, but they usually don’t succeed.  Eventually a flood could come and carry me away, but for now I will stay planted here.

 

Adobe

                                                                                                Nikki

 

I’m sticky when wet.  Little kids will get dirty playing with me.  I get rock hard when I’m dry.  For some reason nobody plays with me then.  I do take my vitamins every morning.  I also have minerals in me.  I am dense, but lucky for me I’m not claustrophobic.

 

 

Worm

                                                                                                Megan

 

That was the final straw!  I can manage to live in adobe soils that’s wet and expanded, but once it dries up, it shrinks and becomes as hard as a rock!  It’s impossible to live in.  To top that off, it’s dense and there’s barely any air!  So that’s why I’m moving across the creek.  Over there the soil is silty and easy to move around in, and breath in.  It may be full of rocks and it may erode, but that’s o.k.

 

 

The Wo rm

                                                                                                Paulo

 

High up on a hill there was a worm named Bob.  He loved to sift through adobe dirt. He really loved it.  His favorite thing to do was turn the nutrients into vitamins.  It was a special power.  It was also very bad when it was hot because the dirt got very dry.  So to put it in short terms, he didn’t like summer, but he loved winter.  It always was sticky and wet, I mean the dirt.  It expands when it’s wet too.  When it rains it’s less likely to erode, too.   I really like this adobe dirt.

 

Worms Journey in Adobe

                                                                                                Hillary

 

I take my shovel, say good-bye to my wife and kids, and move on from the nice organic, nutritious soil and move to the toughest dirt in the world, adobe.  It will be hard work, but me and Bob, we can do it.  This riparian habitat will be wormed in no time.

 

A Worm’s Journey Through Adobe

                                                                                                            Aaron

 

One day a worm found his sister, really sick.  He needed to find the Worm Healer.  The Worm Healer was just a glowworm and lived way down in the adobe soil.  So the worm went into the adobe, but he couldn’t go through soil.  Since the adobe soil was right next to the creek, he had to be careful that the creek won’t rise.  It was also hard because the soil was hard to get into.  He went around the town asking worms to help, but no one volunteered.  Then one day a kid was playing in the adobe soil and dug up the glowworm. The worm had to go save the glowworm, before the glowworm lost its glow or it will die.  … To Be Continued

 

Return to McNear Elementary STRAW page