The enthusiastic staff members of the HUN-REN ATK Institute for Soil Sciences, Hungary are not professional school teachers, although some hold teaching degrees. Nevertheless, they are dedicated to educational and awareness-raising activities and play a leading role in the Education and Dissemination Branch of the Hungarian Soil Science Society. Since 2008, they have been voluntarily organizing their activities with a strong sense of social responsibility, achieving great success at various festivals and events across Hungary, such as the Zoo Festival, Earth Day, World Water Day, Science Day, Open Street Science Days, Children’s Island, Summer Camps, etc. They produced films, short videos, interviews, and numerous educational materials and also launched two citizen science programs.
The “Pick-It-Up” roadshow is an engaging and interactive soil science demonstration designed for students—guaranteed to leave a lasting impression! The main goal of these demonstrations is to highlight the importance of soil sustainability, showcase the diversity of soil’s physical, chemical, and biological properties, and illustrate the complexity of soil science in a way that connects to everyday life.
The demonstrations are structured into three key parts: theory (background of the phenomenon), interactive exercise, and a „take-home message.”
The shortlist of the demonstrations’ topics:
- Soil physics: colour, texture, structure, the role of clay content in water management and nutrient supply, sedimentation cylinders
- Soil organic matter decomposition/humus build-up, the role of organic matter content in water management and nutrient supply
- Soil types: soil as the „Earth’s blanket”, soil maps, the role of the soil colour
- Soil chemistry: visualizing internal chemical differences (effervescence, pH)
- Soil degradation: erosion by water (small-scale irrigation experiment), the role of soil cover and roots in sustainable soil management
- Soil microbiome—plant interactions: role of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and soil microorganisms in plant growth, development and soil function and services (microscopic observations; memory game; interactive session with microbes)
- Soil degradation: demonstration of the salinization, organic and inorganic pollution, drought stress effects on different test plants in different soil types (pot experiment; seed germination; seed-plant quiz, soil seed bank game, water culture plants, root-stroking)
- Soil zoology-1: unrealistic ground-dwelling animals (picture frame)
- Soil zoology-2: the size of ground-dwelling animals (the image and vial pairing)
- Soil zoology-3: ground animal diversity (pairing)
- Activity booklet (colouring, facts about soils, board game)
Some of our activities within the programme
- Activity booklet for youths, 3rd Edition
’Do not forget, you don’t just stand on the soil, you are living on it as well!’
http://talaj.hu/te-es-a-talaj-szinezo-es-foglalkoztato-fuzet-gyerekeknek/ - Film, 2022.12.05. Title: ’Talaj=Élet’ (Soil=Life). 57min:37sec, in Hungarian with English subtitles.’Soil=Life’ became an award winner at the International Film Festival AGROFILM 2023.
- Access to soil information, online ’soil hub’ as www.talajnet.hu (under development)
- ’Regeneratív Farm’ Demonstration for farmers, Nagyhörcsök Experimental Site, HUN-REN ATK TAKI.
https://atk.hun-ren.hu/hu/bemutato-uzemek-tamogatasa/regenerativ-talajvedelmi-technologiak-bemutatasa-program/ in Hungarian, for farmers. - ’Life of the Soil’, 202. 03. 20. On-field soil descriptions. The HUN-REN ATK team participated in a nationwide awareness-raising campaign, organized by the Hungarian Soil Science Society (NGO) and the National Chamber of Agriculture (NCA).
video from 17:20: https://youtu.be/0xIg5IfJL5k?si=jLTv2CRkfQ9Lgfcn
- Citizen science program-1: ’Life in Undies’
The participants buried cotton underwear at a depth of 1 spade foot. After 60 days, the underwear was dug out and photographed, and the digital photos were sent to the staff of the Soil Science Institute.
- Citizen science program-2 ’See beyond the surface (L)ayer… and the forest beyond the trees!’:
Podcast, Europa Radio, 2024.04.17.: https://europaradio.hu/tallozo/ne-csak-felszint-lasdhanem-fatol-az-erdot
- ’Agroverzum’ scientific experience center. HUN-REN Agricultural Research Center’s visitor center in Martonvásár. HUN-REN ATK Institute for Soil Sciences was responsible for the soil exhibition part
https://agroverzum.hu/(in Hungarian) - Kert a köbön (Garden Cubed)
07.09.2024.
08.06.2024.
24.06.2023.
- Earth Festival in the Budapest ZOO
- NAK szántóföldi napok (Farmland Days) organized by the National Chamber of Agriculture (NCA)
- Researchers’ Night
- Earth Science Forgatag (MTM)
