I'll be talking to about 150 middle school students on Thursday on Soil Carbon Sequestration. Any materials you recommend? Advice?

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Sudheer Shukla

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Jun 14, 2016, 4:33:37 AM6/14/16
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Dear Soil Agers,

I'll be talking to 5 middle school classes of about 30 students each on Thursday on soil carbon sequestration, soil health and climate change.  I'd love your suggestions on materials and general advice on presenting this topic to this audience.  Thanks in advance!

Sincerely,

Sudheer


"The future belongs to those with the soul of a hero."

-The Mother (of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram)

Barbara Wallace

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Jun 14, 2016, 9:01:56 AM6/14/16
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This is a great opportunity to change their lives.  I live in a small Canadian ecovillage and, with my husband, have been making small quantities of biochar for a couple of years.  Two of our community children have become quite interested and are working with us on a biochar experimental garden.  they chose which crops they wished to monitor and have been great at their jobs.  We have about 13 different crops in small gardens with each crop in either "control" [only manure] or "biochar" [manure plus biochar].  They have been counting time to germination in each of their plots, measuring height of plants weekly, watering, counting "fruit" formation and will be weighing the harvest of each of their plots.

Their interest began after watching one of our biochar production "burns" and since then has carried forward to their garden work as well as to presenting several talks [the first was accompanied by a professional diagram of how pyrolysis works] at their schools on the triple value of this kind of work [sequestering carbon, improving soil, better food].  This could all tie in with a school garden project.

Best wishes, Barb Wallace

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Jack Kittredge

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Jun 14, 2016, 9:20:50 AM6/14/16
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Hi, I would suggest you look at www.nofamass.org/carbon. There are a lot of materials there which would be appropriate, from actual short videos to links to existing videos and other resources on the internet. Also various articles are available there which might be appropriate to reach middle school kids. -- Jack

Jack Kittredge
NOFA/Mass Carbon Analyst
411 Sheldon Rd.
Barre, MA 01005





Glenn Gall

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Jun 14, 2016, 9:49:09 AM6/14/16
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Sudheer -- Excellent situation to be in.  
Jack -- Thank you for sharing NOFA's resources.  One I didn't see is http://www.nofamass.org/sites/default/files/attachments/Carbon_Building_Carbon_Cycling_John_Kempf.pdf  

Glenn


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Glenn Gall
Oberlin, Ohio

Thomas Goreau

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Jun 15, 2016, 12:18:58 AM6/15/16
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Dear Barbara,

Great project! I hope you get results that can be published in the scientific literature. There is just not enough of this!

Best wishes,
Tom

Thomas J. F. Goreau, PhD
President, Global Coral Reef Alliance
President, Biorock Technology Inc.
Coordinator, Soil Carbon Alliance
Coordinator, United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development Small Island Developing States Partnership in New Sustainable Technologies
37 Pleasant Street, Cambridge, MA 02139

Books:

Geotherapy: Innovative Methods of Soil Fertility Restoration, Carbon Sequestration, and Reversing CO2 Increase

Innovative Methods of Marine Ecosystem Restoration

The Green Disc, New Technologies for a New Future: Innovative Methods for Sustainable Development

No one can change the past, everyone can change the future

Erich Knight

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Jun 15, 2016, 1:37:37 AM6/15/16
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Barb's project sounds like great fun, and I suggest contacting Albert Bates, (cced), to see if he would cover your efforts in his eco-village blog. http://peaksurfer.blogspot.com/


My 2 cents for Sudheer;

Young and old seem affected by the cognitive dissonance caused by the statement; "Wood can not Burn!",
Even fire-chiefs just nod their heads & smile.
Which leads into the analogy that TLUD cook stoves burn biomass just like a match. The flame protecting the wood from turning to ash. Blow it out and what do you have left?.....char, crystallized carbon, pyrolitic Bio-carbon, charcoal or when used in the soil Biochar.  Carbon Condominiums for all the soil Wee-Beasties. Sheltering room & board with fungal communication networks, the cupboards nutrient stocked and the power & water utilities free.

Cheers,

Erich

Erich J. Knight
Shenandoah Gardens
1047 Dave Berry Rd. McGaheysville, VA. 22840
  540-289-9750   

Policy & Community Chairman
2013 North American Biochar Symposium
Harvesting Hope: The Science & Synergies of Biochar
October 13-16, 2013 at UMASS Amherst
http://pvbiochar.org/2013-symposium/


Barbara Wallace

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Jun 15, 2016, 9:11:01 AM6/15/16
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Dear Tom,
It is wonderful to get your supportive comments.  Many thanks.  We are showing some differences already this early in the growing season.  In the late 1970s and early 1980s at the Farm in Tennessee, I worked for about 7 years with Albert Bates on various environmental and health issues and we continue to be in regular contact now.  He is the one who first told me about your work and I have been following it since.
Warm regards, Barbara

On Wed, Jun 15, 2016 at 12:11 AM, Thomas Goreau <gor...@bestweb.net> wrote:

Barbara Wallace

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Jun 15, 2016, 9:13:01 AM6/15/16
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Hi Erich, thanks for suggesting Albert's ecovillage blog [or perhaps another of his blogs].Barbara

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