12 thoughts on “TALON Talk Assignment”

1. Hi, Kalayla I really liked your TALONSTalk! I thought the images you chose for your PowerPoint were really helpful for helping us understand what you were talking about. Something I was wondering about was if plants could still grow without the humus in the soil? If they could would there be any changes to how the plants grow?

   1. Hi Clara!
      Thanks for watching and for your comments on my TALONS Talk!
      To answer your question, humus isn’t necessary for plants to grow. It does help however by providing extra nutrients and loosening up the soil so water and air can get to plants easier. So I think that without the presence of humus, plants might grow smaller and/or weaker. Though I’m sure that there are many plants out there that are able to grow without soil that you could check out! It seems like a very interesting topic.
      -Kalayla

2. Hey Kalayla,

   I thoroughly enjoyed your TALON Talk. In grade 8 I did a lot of independent research for science about soils although I didn’t know its effects on Carbon emissions. How exactly do Humus’ work and what would happen to the soil if they didn’t have any?

   -Justin C.

   1. Hi Justin!
      Thanks for watching my TALON Talk and for your interesting question.
      Humus is basically decomposed organic matter that sits in the soil. Because it’s organic matter, it contains a lot of the important minerals and substances that travel through the air, water and living things. Because of this it plays a big part in the carbon, phosphorus and nitrogen cycles which is a pretty cool topic if you want to look it up. It loosens the soil to allow air and water to get to the plant easier and supplies the plant with easier access to said important minerals and substances in the soil. If soil were to have less to zero humus in it, there probably wouldn’t be a lot of plants growing in that area. Or if there were, the plants wouldn’t be as strong, big or able to grow as quick as plants in soil with humus. As for the soil itself, it wouldn’t change much. Humus is what gives it “life” per say, so the soil itself just wouldn’t have as much life in it.
      I hope that answers your question!
      – Kalayla

3. Hi Kalayla,
   I really liked your TALON talk! It was a unique topic that I probably wouldn’t have given much thought to before. The pacing was great and it was easy to follow along! I’m curious as to where things are in the soil, like where worms like to live, where fossils are usually found, and where animals like to dig burrows.

   1. Hi Xylia!
      Thankyou for the great question and kind words!
      Since there can be many different species of earthworms, they tend to vary in which layer they like to live in. The ones that we typically see live in the upper layers like the O and A horizons. Fossils are commonly found in rock, sedimentary – compact sand, silt and clay. And the layer that animals tend to burrow in can differ depending on the animals and the depth of the layer in that area. For example, did you know that Nile Crocodiles can have burrows 12 meters deep, compared to a ground squirrel who’s burrows can reach almost 1 meter!
      Hope that answers your question!
      – Kalayla

4. Hi Kalayla! This was such an interesting subject to learn about. I thought it was really interesting and well-spoken. My question is, what was the most surprising or unexpected thing you learned while doing research for this inquiry?
   Thanks!
   -Kira

   1. Hi Kira!
      Thanks for taking time to watch my TALON Talk!
      That’s a really great question! I would say that the most surprising or unexpected fact that I learned throughout my research was the sheer complexity of the soil. Before I would have never guessed how many factors came into play to making the soil we see all around us. If I had to name a specific fact, it would be that soil had layers, especially layers with such a complex naming system.
      Hope that answers your question!
      – Kalayla

5. I really like how you organized your PowerPoint and made it very clear to understand. Your images are very effective in how I understood the talk! I wonder if different types of leaves could affect the composting? If so how?

   1. Hey Joanne!
      Thanks for watching my TALONS Talk and leaving an awesome question!
      There are different types of leaves that can take longer or slower to decompose. For example maple leaves have less carbon in them compared to oak leaves causing them to decompose faster. So to answer your question, it can depend on the amount of a certain nutrient (ex. carbon, nitrogen etc.) in the leaves. Good question!
      – Kalayla

6. Hi Kalayla, I liked listening to your presentation. You did a great job researching your topic and bringing it together into an educational lesson. I liked the chart you included of the ratios of clay, silt, and sand in different types of soil. It really helped me to understand what you were talking about. I never knew any of that about carbon in the soil. I loved how in depth you went during your presentation.
   I want to try planting some vegetables in my garden. What could I do to the soil that might help my plants grow? What are the differences between the humus produced when an animal dies versus when a plant dies?

   1. Hey Lucas!
      Thanks for taking the time to watch my TALON Talk and for your great questions and compliments!
      If you were to plant vegetables in your garden, you would probably need a lot of the humus or organic matter in the soil. Adding compost to the soil might be one way to do that. As for the differences in animal and plant humus, they both carry the pretty much the same nutrients found in humus. Both are broken down into the simple substances by decomposers. However, some plants or animals might have more of one nutrient depending on what it is. That’s a great question! I hope that answers it.
      – Kalayla

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