Better Bagged Leafy Greens

When you’re in a hurry but still want a healthy meal, bagged salads are a great choice.

ARS food safety scientists performed groundbreaking research on how to wash leafy greens and other produce most effectively during processing. Their work led to industry guidelines to prevent pathogen cross-contamination and spread during the washing process. Read "Keeping Bagged Leafy Greens Safe and Nutritious for Human Consumption" to learn more.

Soil Erosion Experiments

About the Experiment

Soil is a living and life-giving natural resource that promotes plant growth, makes a habitat for living things, and stores water.  Soil is mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, liquids, and organism, working together to support life.

The process of weathering is the transformation of rock into soil through physical, chemical, or biological processes. Erosion is the next step in the process where soil is displaced to another location through movement caused by water, wind, and/or ice. Some of the greatest natural wonders of the U.S. including the Grand Canyon, Natural Bridges National Monument, and Devil's Tower were carved and transformed in part by erosion and deposition of soil over time.

Let's Find Out How With This Project

	Details Ages - 5-12 (parental supervision required)
	Time - 15 minutes + few minutes a day for 3 days
	Difficulty - Easy

 What You'll Need

• Soil or Dirt of various colors and types such as sand, silt, and/or clay
• Trays or containers with four sections (aluminum or lined cardboard box)
• Clean spray bottle or water bottle
• Clear cup or measuring cup
• Water
• Pen ad Paper / Journal

Let's Do This!

Soil Experiment #1

1. Gather up a handful of four different types of soil. This can be dirt, sand, clay, silt, chalk, etc.
2. Place the soil types in different sections of your tray.  Soil can be dry or add a little bit of water to build a landform.
3. Draw a picture of your soils and describe the texture, color, and shape of each.
4. Use a spray or water bottle to dribble drops of water on each soil to represent a light rain.  Record your observations, what is happening to the soil, how is it changing, if at all?
5. Now, pour a cup of water into each soil tray to represent a heavy rain.  Record your observations, what is happening to the soil, how is it changing, if at all?
6. Leave the tray in a secure location outside for three days, preferably when there is no rain expected. Observe the soils the same time each day and record your daily observations as it relates to erosion by wind.

Soil Experiment #2

1. Fill one cup with water.
2. Collect dirt clumps from two different soil types (see above).
3. Draw a picture of the dirt clumps and write a description of each that may include but not limited to diameter, color, texture, etc.
4. Drop one clump of dirt in the cup of water and record your observations at it relates to how the water erodes the dirt.
5. Repeat step 4 with the other dirt clump and cup of water and record your observations.

Reflection Questions

1. How did the different soils react to the light rain, the heavy rain, and the wind?
2. What happened to their composition?
3. Did their color change?
4. How did the soils maintain the water over the course of three days?
5. How did the soils look and feel compared to the first day?
6. Which soil(s) do you think is best to handle heavy rains or high winds?
7. If the soils… they withstood weathering and erosion well. By comparison, if the soils…they were more vulnerable to soil and erosion.

The Vitamin C Challenge

Do different varieties of the same fruit (like navel-, blood- or Mandarin oranges) have the same level of vitamin C? What about different brands of orange juice—or even fresh juice compared to juice made from frozen concentrate?

This experiment will help you compare vitamin C levels and rank orange varieties or juice brands from highest to lowest. Get to it! 

Weed Control Methods

Scientists have shown that cereal crop farmers can reduce weeds while increasing yields by instituting longer and complex crop rotations.

Sustainable Agricultural Systems Research: Organic Agriculture Production Research

Controlling Disease

Researchers identified several options for controlling potato crop diseases, including spreading their plants with oregano. Researchers are also adding organic forage to the diets of sheep and goats to help prevent and control the growth of parasites.

Read "Kitchen Meets Farm in Fight Against Late Blight" to learn more. 

Cover Cropping

Scientists have shown that cover cropping (planting crops to cover the soil) can improve organic weed management. Scientists are also creating welcome environments for natural enemies of pests as an alternative to pesticides. 

Watch "ARS Studies Cover Crops Nationwide" to learn more about the effort. 

Using Clay to Fight Fish Disease

Scientists from USDA’s Agricultural Research Service have unearthed a natural material that helps prevent a deadly fish disease. Kaolin, a type of clay found globally, significantly improved the survival of channel catfish with columnaris disease. The disease is caused by a bacterial pathogen, Flavobacterium columnare, which affects the gills, skin and fins of fish, and often leads to death.

Kaolin is a soft white clay that been used for years in cosmetics, medicine, and papermaking. It is also used in manufacturing china, porcelain and other products. Scientists found that adding clay particles to water tanks gave fish a 96 percent chance of surviving the disease, compared to a 76 percent chance when no clay was added to their water.

 Learn more!

ARS Joins Effort to Boost Oyster Production

A scientist from USDA’s Agricultural Research Service in Rhode Island has joined a team of researchers working to restore oysters along the Eastern seaboard. The group is developing new methods to accelerate selective breeding and expand it to new regions along the East Coast. Oyster production has been declining since the 1940s due rising water temperatures, changes in salinity, and Dermo disease.

In addition to being considered a seafood delicacy, oysters are important to the marine environment. As filter feeders, they help improve water quality as they filter their food from the water.

“We are hoping to associate traits like fast growth, disease resistance, and low salinity tolerance with specific regions of the genome,” said Dina Proestou, a research geneticist with ARS’s National Cold Water Marine Aquaculture Center in Kingston, RI. “Once we have that information, we can breed oysters that possess these features in less time and with greater precision.” 

More information can be found at https://tellus.ars.usda.gov/stories/articles/ars-joins-effort-to-boost-oyster-production

Fly Frass Forms Fabulous Fish Food

People gotta eat, and with the world population projected to reach nearly 10 billion in the next few decades, we’ll need to produce a lot more food. Fish farming – aquaculture – is one way of doing that.

ARS researchers have worked with American catfish farmers to develop a feed supplement that not only increases the weight of their fish – meaning there’s more of it to eat – it also helps keep the fish healthier and is environmentally sustainable. The feed, called “frass,” is high in protein and chitin, a compound that helps fish better withstand pathogens by triggering their immune systems.

Frass is the byproduct of farming insects that are non-pathogenic and do not pose a risk for human, animal, or plant health. In this case, black soldier fly larvae are raised on organic waste products until they reach a specific age. Larvae are then processed into protein meal and oil for biofuel. As with raising other “livestock,” larvae leave their own waste – including exoskeletons and residual feed. When processed, frass resembles a crumbly soil and is loaded with nutrients.

More information can be found in our Down on the Farm article.