Translation Script
for
The GLOBE Program
"Protocol Series: Soil Moisture"
March 22, 2001
Music up. Opening sequence and title slate appears: Protocol Series: Soil Moisture. Effect to a close up shot of an agricultural field.
Cut to a sound-up of a teacher and students speaking English.
Teacher says: "We all know how important moisture is in soil for helping things grow. Do you guys have any questions before we get these measurements?"
1st student asks: "I do. We haven't had rain for six weeks. How far down do you suppose the soil is dry?"
2nd student asks: "Do different types of soil hold moisture longer?"
3rd student asks: "We get to choose when and how often we do soil moisture measurements. So, does the timing of our measurements have to do with anything we learn about our site?"
Cut to Dr. Elissa Levine on camera, NASA Goddard Space Center. Cover some of the soundbite with shots of scientist in the field.
SOT: "The moisture in the soil feeds all the organisms that are in there, whether they're plants, plant roots or microorganisms or other types of animals. That's one of the most important functions. It also carries nutrients down through the soil. In that way, it actually leaches, or removes materials from the soil and brings it into ground water, but it also helps to accumulate different types of nutrients for fertility, for plant growth, and then also carries those nutrients from the soil particles into the root itself."
Music sting and graphic bumper: Getting Started
Cut to shots of individual materials and instruments.
1. TO MEASURE SOIL MOISTURE, YOU'LL NEED A TROWEL OR AUGER, SOIL COLLECTION CONTAINERS, ADHESIVE TAPE AND PENS TO LABEL THE CONTAINERS, A SOIL DRYING OVEN, A BALANCE OR SCALE WITH 0.1 GRAM SENSITIVITY, A POT HOLDER OR OVEN MITTS AND A METER STICK. YOU'LL ALSO NEED YOUR GLOBE SCIENCE NOTEBOOKS AND DATA SHEETS.
Cut to sound-up and shots of students walking out and discussing possible locations for a site or walking around existing site. Slow pull back or pans show extent of site.
2. FIRST YOU'LL NEED TO LOCATE YOUR SOIL MOISTURE SITE. IDEALLY, THE SITE SHOULD BE IN THE OPEN, WITH NO CANOPY OVERHEAD, AND WITHIN 100 METERS OF YOUR ATMOSPHERE STUDY SITE. DEPENDING ON THE SAMPLING METHOD YOU USE, YOU MAY NEED A SITE THAT IS TEN METERS IN DIAMETER, WITH LITTLE OR NO SLOPE AND HOMOGENEOUS (hoe moe GEEN ee us) SOIL CHARACTERISTICS. THE SITE MUST NOT BE IRRIGATED AND THE WHOLE SITE SHOULD GET THE SAME AMOUNT OF SUNLIGHT DURING THE DAY.
Word supers over shot of soil site. Uniform, Relatively Undisturbed, Safe For Digging.
3. TO ENSURE ACCURATE MEASUREMENTS, IT'S IMPORTANT THAT YOU STUDY A SITE THAT IS UNIFORM, RELATIVELY UNDISTURBED AND SAFE FOR DIGGING.
Dissolve to shots showing students doing the soil characterization, temperature and infiltration protocols.
4. IF POSSIBLE, YOU SHOULD PLAN TO MAKE SOIL CHARACTERIZATION, SOIL TEMPERATURE AND INFILTRATION MEASUREMENTS ALL WITHIN THE SAME HOMOGENEOUS (hoe moe GEEN ee us) TEN METER AREA, SO THAT THEY CAN ALL BE RELATED TO YOUR SOIL MOISTURE MEASUREMENTS.
Cut to sound-up of students on site or in a classroom discussing when to take their samples. They should have calendar with them.
5. NEXT, YOU'LL NEED TO DECIDE ON YOUR SAMPLING STRATEGY.
Cut to calendar graphic or shot of students looking at calendar and pointing out when they would take measurements if they were to do them during the dry season, and when they would take them over the course of the year.
6. GLOBE STUDENTS SHOULD MEASURE SOIL MOISTURE TWELVE TIMES A YEAR AT REGULAR INTERVALS. WEEKLY MEASUREMENTS DURING THE BEGINNING OF YOUR DRY SEASON CAN HELP YOU TO PREDICT PLANT GROWTH. MONTHLY OBSERVATIONS THROUGHOUT THE YEAR OR MEASUREMENTS EVERY THREE WEEKS DURING A NINE OR TEN MONTH SCHOOL YEAR WILL PROVIDE INSIGHT INTO IMPORTANT SEASONAL CHANGES.
Cut to shot of students using star sampling, transect sampling and depth sampling (using an auger).
7. YOU CAN COLLECT YOUR SOIL SAMPLES IN A STAR PATTERN OR ALONG A TRANSECT.
Cut to shots of students taking samples.
8. WITH THE STAR PATTERN YOU CAN TAKE MULTIPLE SAMPLES NEAR THE SURFACE OR AT FOUR DEPTHS DOWN TO 90 CENTIMETERS.
Music sting and dictionary graphic. (Definition: TRANSECT. A line on the ground often divided into intervals where observations or samples are collected.)
9. DEFINITION: TRANSECT. A line on the ground often divided into intervals where observations or samples are collected
Cut to graphic showing the star pattern.
10. IT'S IMPORTANT THAT EACH TIME YOU TAKE A SOIL SAMPLE, IT COMES FROM AN UNDISTURBED LOCATION. TO TAKE YOUR TWELVE MEASUREMENTS IN A STAR PATTERN, MARK THE CENTER AND THEN USE A METER STICK AND COMPASS TO LOCATE FOUR POINTS APPROXIMATELY ONE METER NORTH, SOUTH, EAST AND WEST FROM THAT CENTRAL REFERENCE MARKER. THEN, IMAGINE A CIRCLE CONNECTING THE FOUR POINTS AND LOCATE FOUR MORE POINTS, HALFWAY BETWEEN THE FIRST FOUR POINTS. NOW YOU HAVE A STAR TWO METERS IN DIAMETER WITH EIGHT POINTS. FINALLY, LOCATE FOUR MORE POINTS, 25 CENTIMETERS FROM THE CENTRAL REFERENCE MARKER, ALONG THE NORTH, SOUTH, EAST AND WEST LINES.
Effect to pull out from star graphic to new graphic that shows three stars and the site plan for year 1, 2 and 3.
11. EACH YEAR, SELECT A NEW CENTRAL REFERENCE MARKER WITHIN YOUR TEN METER-DIAMETER SOIL MOISTURE STUDY SITE AND REPEAT THE PATTERN.
Cut to shots of students with six soil containers nearby, as they collect soil samples. Dissolve through shots of six filled containers, each clearly labeled.
12. IF YOU ARE TAKING NEAR SURFACE SAMPLES, YOU'LL NEED SIX CONTAINERS TO COLLECT YOUR SAMPLES. START WITH THE FIRST SOIL MOISTURE LOCATION ON THE STAR AND DIG SAMPLES FROM THE TOP FIVE CENTIMETERS OF SOIL AND ALSO FROM A DEPTH OF 10 CENTIMETERS. TAKE SAMPLES IN THE SAME WAY AT TWO ADDITIONAL PLACES 25 CENTIMETERS ON EITHER SIDE OF YOUR FIRST SAMPLE, FOR QUALITY CONTROL.
Cut back to star graphic and highlight the second point on the star, then the rest of the points in turn. Also shots of students in action.
13. THE NEXT TIME YOU GO OUT TO YOUR SITE TO TAKE SOIL SAMPLES, YOU'LL GO TO THE SECOND SAMPLE LOCATION ON THE STAR. YOU'LL CONTINUE TO MOVE TO A NEW POINT ON THE STAR EACH TIME DURING THE YEAR WHEN YOU GO OUT TO DO A NEW MEASUREMENT.
Effect to sound-up and shots of students walking into a large field, carrying thirteen soil containers with them. Shots of the containers and students laying out other materials.
14. IF YOU HAVE ACCESS TO A LARGE FIELD, IT'S BEST TO TAKE SOIL SAMPLES ALONG A TRANSECT. ALL OF THE SAMPLES WILL COME FROM THE TOP FIVE CENTIMETERS OF SOIL. EACH TIME YOU DO YOUR MEASUREMENT, YOU'LL COLLECT THIRTEEN SAMPLES -- TEN REGULAR SAMPLES ALONG THE TRANSECT AND ONE TRIPLICATE SAMPLE FOR QUALITY CONTROL.
Cut to shot of students laying out the transect and making notes on their worksheets.
15. LAY OUT YOUR TRANSECT IN AN OPEN AREA WITHIN 100 METERS OF A RAIN GAUGE, IF POSSIBLE. MAKE A NOTE OF HOW YOUR LINE IS ORIENTED IN THE COMMENTS SECTION OF THE STUDY SITE WORKSHEET AND ON THE SITE DEFINITION DATA ENTRY SHEET.
Cut to shot of transect and CU of markers, then to shot of students using cord or measuring tape. Then dissolve to graphic at end to show the five meter intervals along the line with triplicate samples taken at the last point.
16. YOUR TRANSECT SHOULD BE A STRAIGHT LINE, 50 METERS LONG, WITH PERMANENT MARKERS ON EITHER END. USE A KNOTTED CORD OR MEASURING TAPE TO LOCATE SAMPLING POINTS EVERY FIVE METERS ALONG THE LINE. TAKE YOUR TRIPLICATE SAMPLE AT THE END.
Continue with graphic to show 25 cm offset as well as 50 cm marking.
17. THE NEXT TIME YOU GO OUT TO MEASURE SOIL MOISTURE, SHIFT EACH OF YOUR DATA COLLECTION POINTS BY 25 CENTIMETERS TO AVOID THE DISTURBED AREA.
Effect to sound-up and shots of different depths site. Cut to pan up from site to trees or down from trees to sample site. Cut to shots of students digging with auger.
18. A THIRD OPTION FOR SOIL SAMPLING IS TO TAKE SAMPLES AT DIFFERENT DEPTHS. THIS IS THE ONLY METHOD THAT CAN BE DONE UNDER A CANOPY. TAKING SAMPLES UNDER A CANOPY GIVES YOU THE OPPORTUNITY TO COMPARE SOIL MOISTURE TO TREE GROWTH. YOU CAN ALSO TAKE DEPTH SAMPLES IN THE OPEN AND COMPARE SOIL MOISTURE TO EVAPORATION.
Cut to shot of students taking samples, then cut to graphic showing the five depths.
19. FOR THIS METHOD, YOU LAY OUT A STAR-SHAPED PATTERN, AND TAKE SOIL SAMPLES AT A DIFFERENT POINT ON THE STAR EACH TIME YOU COME OUT TO DO A MEASUREMENT. YOUR SOIL SAMPLES ARE TAKEN FROM THE FIRST FIVE CENTIMETERS OF SOIL AND THEN AT DEPTHS OF 10 CENTIMETERS, 30 CENTIMETERS, 60 CENTIMETERS AND 90 CENTIMETERS.
Music sting and graphic bumper: Step By Step
Begin with sound-up and shots of students talking about the surface cover type (short grass, long grass or bare soil), and observing whether there are any trees nearby or overhead. They write this information down in their notebooks.
20. THESE STUDENTS ARE MAKING SOME INITIAL OBSERVATIONS (pause for sound-up) AND THEN USING THE STAR SAMPLING PATTERN TO COLLECT SOIL SAMPLES.
Cut to shots of students scraping away the ground cover and then digging a 10 cm diameter hole 5 cm deep and leaving it loose in the hole.
CU of students hands moving through the soil, sorting out rocks, pebbles and animals.
21. YOU HAVE TO REMOVE ROCKS AND PEBBLES, AS WELL AS WORMS, GRUBS AND OTHER ANIMALS BEFORE FILLING YOUR CONTAINER WITH SOIL.
Next, cut or dissolve to show them putting soil in labeled cans. Medium shot with camera looking down into the container as soil is being put inside it.
Cut to shot of student labeling can with number or CU of side of can or line-up of several cans shows cans already labeled with unique identification numbers.
Next, cut to shot of students digging deeper, measuring the depth as they go along. CU on measuring tape shows when they get to 8 cm.
22. NOW THEY'RE GOING A LITTLE DEEPER AND DOING THE SAME THING AGAIN.
After removing 8 cm of soil, the student dig down 4 more cm, leaving the soil in the hole.
Cut to shot of students sorting through soil again.
Cut or dissolve to shot of students putting the soil in the can.
23. ONCE YOU HAVE YOUR SAMPLES, YOU SHOULD PUT THE REST OF THE SOIL BACK IN THE HOLE.
Cut to shot of students sealing the container and setting it aside away from heat or sunlight.
Dissolve to shot of students in the lab, turning on the drying oven to preheat it.
24. NOW, WE'RE BACK IN THE LAB, READY TO WEIGH AND DRY THE SAMPLES.
Cut to sound-up and shots of students calibrating their balance with a standard and recording the weight of the standard.
25. FIRST, YOU HAVE TO CALIBRATE THE BALANCE USING A STANDARD TO MAKE SURE IT WILL GIVE US AN ACCURATE WEIGHT.
Cut to shot of students removing tape and lid from can and putting soil container on balance and weighing. Camera moves in tight to see weight on balance. Cut to shot and sound-up as students record the weight to the nearest 0.1 gram on their worksheet.
26. NEXT, YOU MEASURE THE "WET WEIGHT," WHICH WILL GIVE YOU THE MASS OF THE WET SOIL PLUS THE CONTAINER.
Cut to shot of student putting the soil in an oven.
27. THEN YOU DRY THE SOIL...
Dissolve to shot of student taking soil sample out of oven, using hot pads, and setting it down to cool. Dissolve to shot of student picking up the cooled container and weighing it on the balance.
28. ...LET IT COOL, AND MEASURE THE "DRY WEIGHT," WHICH WILL GIVE YOU THE MASS OF THE DRY SOIL PLUS THE CONTAINER.
Cut to shot of student emptying the soil from the container and wiping the can clean with a paper towel. Cut to camera close-up of the inside of the clean, dry container.
28. THERE'S ONE MORE THING TO WEIGH -- THE DRY SOIL CONTAINER. AFTER YOU KNOW THE MASS OF THE CONTAINER, YOU CAN CALCULATE THE SOIL WATER CONTENT.
Music sting and graphic bumper: A Closer Look
Cut to shot of students writing about ground cover. Freeze shot and arrow points to the ground cover.
29. WHEN YOU'RE IN THE FIELD FOR THE SOIL MOISTURE PROTOCOL, THE FIRST THING YOU DO IS NOTE THE TYPE OF GROUND COVER AND WHETHER OR NOT THERE ARE TREES OVERHEAD OR NEARBY.
Cut to shot of students digging the hole. Graphic super shows 10 cm diameter and 5 cm depth.
30. AFTER SCRAPING AWAY THE GROUND COVER, DIG A HOLE THAT'S TEN CENTIMETERS IN DIAMETER AND GO DOWN FIVE CENTIMETERS. LEAVE THE SOIL LOOSE IN YOUR HOLE SO THAT YOU CAN SIFT THROUGH IT.
Cut to shot of filled soil container, with arrow pointing to the level of soil.
31. YOUR SOIL CONTAINER SHOULD BE FILLED ABOUT THREE QUARTERS OF THE WAY TO THE TOP WITH ABOUT 100 GRAMS OF SOIL.
Cut to shot of soil container with arrow pointing to the label, as well as students marking data sheet.
32. IT'S IMPORTANT TO LABEL EACH SOIL CONTAINER WITH A UNIQUE NUMBER OR NAME AND RECORD THE DATE, TIME, DEPTH AND CAN NUMBER OR NAME ON YOUR DATA WORKSHEET.
Replay shots of students digging deeper. Super 8 cm and 4 cm over video.
33. FOR THE STAR SAMPLING PATTERN THAT THESE STUDENTS ARE USING, YOU HAVE TO TAKE A SECOND, DEEPER MEASUREMENT IN THE SAME HOLE. TO DO THAT, REMOVE THE SOIL TO A DEPTH OF ABOUT EIGHT CENTIMETERS. THEN DIG DOWN AN ADDITIONAL FOUR CENTIMETERS, LEAVING THIS SOIL IN THE HOLE SO YOU CAN SIFT THROUGH IT.
Cut to shots of can being filled and information being recorded.
34. FINALLY, YOU FILL A NEW, LABELED CAN AND RECORD THE INFORMATION ON THE DATA SHEET.
Cut to medium shot of sample being set aside. Cut to shot of students offsetting by 25 cm and starting to take a new sample. Freeze shot and indicate 25 cm distance.
35. FOR QUALITY CONTROL, YOU FOLLOW THE SAME STEPS TO TAKE TWO ADDITIONAL SAMPLES, WITHIN 25 CENTIMETERS OF THE FIRST.
Effect to show transect sampling. Shot of students putting soil sample in can, then filling hole and moving on.
36. IF YOU ARE TAKING SAMPLES ALONG A TRANSECT INSTEAD OF A STAR PATTERN, YOU MOVE ON TO MAKE YOUR NEXT HOLE AFTER COLLECTING THE SAMPLE FROM THE TOP FIVE CENTIMETERS OF SOIL. CONTINUE DOING THE SAME THING FOR EACH OF THE 11 POINTS ON THE TRANSECT. AT EITHER END OF YOUR TRANSECT, TAKE TWO ADDITIONAL SAMPLES WITHIN 25 CENTIMETERS FOR QUALITY CONTROL.
Effect to show depth sampling. Shot of students using trowel. Dissolve to shot of students using auger.
37. IF YOU ARE TAKING DEPTH SAMPLES, YOU WOULD USE A TROWEL TO COLLECT A SOIL SAMPLE FROM THE TOP FIVE CENTIMETERS AND AN AUGER TO COLLECT ABOUT 100 GRAMS OF SOIL AT 10, 30, 60 AND 90 CENTIMETERS. IF YOUR AUGER STRIKES AN OBSTRUCTION, OFFSET BY 25 CENTIMETERS AND TRY AGAIN.
Cut to shot of soil container being uncovered and tape being pulled off.
38. MAKE SURE TO UNCOVER YOUR SOIL SAMPLE AND REMOVE ANY TAPE FROM THE CAN BEFORE MEASURING THE WET WEIGHT. MAKE SURE THE CONTAINER IS STILL LABELED.
Cut to shot of soil container(s) being put in an oven.
39. THEN THE UNCOVERED CONTAINER SHOULD BE PLACED IN A VENTILATED DRYING OVEN, A DEHYDRATING OVEN OR A MICROWAVE OVEN FOR THE TIME AND TEMPERATURE SPECIFIED IN THE TEACHER'S GUIDE. AND IF YOU'RE USING A MICROWAVE, MAKE SURE YOUR SOIL SAMPLES CONTAINERS ARE MICROWAVE-SAFE.
Cut to graphic clock showing five minute time lapse over can cooling. Cut to shot of cooled container being weighed.
40. THE CAN SHOULD COOL FOR FIVE MINUTES BEFORE YOU MEASURE THE DRY WEIGHT.
Cut to sound-up and shots of students recording data.
41. YOU NEED TO RECORD THE DRYING TIME, THE TYPE OF OVEN USED AND THE MASS OF THE DRY SAMPLE TO THE NEAREST TENTH OF A GRAM ON YOUR DATA WORKSHEET.
Cut to part A of new graphic 1.
42. NOW, YOU'RE READY FOR SOME CALCULATIONS. TO CALCULATE SOIL WATER CONTENT, SUBTRACT THE MASS OF THE DRY SOIL PLUS THE CONTAINER FROM THE MASS OF THE WET SOIL PLUS THE CONTAINER. THE RESULT IS THE MASS OF THE WATER WHICH WAS IN THE SOIL SAMPLE.
Cut to part B of new graphic 1.
43. NOW SUBTRACT THE MASS OF THE EMPTY SOIL CONTAINER FROM THE MASS OF THE DRY SOIL PLUS THE CONTAINER. THIS GIVES YOU THE MASS OF THE DRY SOIL.
Cut to part C of new graphic 1.
44. FINALLY, CALCULATE THE SOIL WATER CONTENT BY DIVIDING THE SOIL WATER MASS BY THE DRY SOIL MASS. THE SOIL WATER CONTENT IS A MEASURE OF THE ABILITY OF SOIL TO HOLD WATER.
45. THESE STEPS ARE REPEATED FOR EACH SOIL SAMPLE.
Cut to shot of students answering questions on the data sheet.
46. WHEN YOU'RE FINISHED, YOU SHOULD RECORD THE ADDITIONAL INFORMATION REQUESTED ON THE SITE DEFINITION DATA ENTRY SHEET.
Music sting and graphic bumper: Oops!
Containers being left out in the sun. Universal "no" sign comes in over field or sample.
47. DON'T LEAVE YOUR SOIL SAMPLES OUT IN THE SUN.
Cut to shot of soil container being weighed or placed in oven with cover on it. Universal "no" sign comes in over cover.
48. YOU HAVE TO TAKE THE COVER OFF YOUR SOIL SAMPLE BEFORE MEASURING ITS MASS AND DRYING IT.
Music sting and graphic bumper: Let's Learn
Cut to new graphic 2 (or animation based on this graphic).
49. THE FOLLOWING EXAMPLE ILLUSTRATES THE CONCEPT OF SOIL WATER CONTENT. WE START WITH TWO SOIL COLUMNS, EACH CONTAINING 500 GRAMS OF DRY SOIL. ONE COLUMN CONTAINS DRY SAND AND THE OTHER DRY CLAY. IN BOTH CASES, THE DRY SOIL MASS OF THE SAMPLE IS 500 GRAMS.
Cut to part (2) of graphic 2.
50. NEXT, WE POUR 500 GRAMS OF WATER INTO EACH SOIL COLUMN AND WAIT UNTIL NO MORE WATER COMES OUT OF EACH COLUMN.
Cut to part (3) of graphic 2.
51. THEN WE WEIGH THE AMOUNT OF WATER THAT CAME THROUGH EACH COLUMN. THIS WILL ALLOW US TO CALCULATE THE AMOUNT OF WATER THAT WAS HELD IN EACH SOIL, THE SOIL WATER MASS. FOR THE SAND, 350 GRAMS OF WATER PASSED THROUGH WHICH MEANS THAT 150 GRAMS WERE HELD BY THE SOIL. SO THE SOIL WATER MASS IN THE SAND IS 150 GRAMS. THE SOIL WATER CONTENT FOR SAND IS ITS SOIL WATER MASS, 150 GRAMS, DIVIDED BY THE MASS OF DRY SAND, 500 GRAMS. THIS EQUALS ZERO POINT THREE. FOR THE CLAY, 200 GRAMS OF WATER CAME THROUGH, SO 300 GRAMS OF WATER WERE HELD BY THE SOIL AND REPRESENT THE SOIL WATER MASS. THE WATER CONTENT OF CLAY IS ITS SOIL WATER MASS, 300 GRAMS, DIVIDED BY THE MASS OF DRY SOIL, 500 GRAMS. THIS EQUALS ZERO POINT SIX. NOTICE THAT THE CLAY HELD TWO TIMES AS MUCH WATER AS SAND AND HAS A SOIL WATER CONTENT TWO TIMES AS LARGE.
Cut to teachers and students on camera.
Teacher says: "Scientists call soils the great integrator, that makes them a vital part of our global environment. What questions does this raise in your mind?"
Student says: "I wonder what the relationship between air temperature and soil moisture is? Will that relationship change based on soil type?"
2nd student replies: "We have not recorded rain here for six weeks, at what depth would we find significant soil moisture?"
3rd student says: "And will that effect root growth? Will the roots grow down to the level of moisture?"
Cut to soundbite from Dr. Levine, on camera, with part of soundbite covered by scientist working in the field.
SOT: "If we can get soil moisture data for all over the world on different landscapes, we can better compare, interpret and validate satellite imagery of different types. That way, once we make that kind of comparison, we can then monitor with the satellite imagery, what the status of soil moisture is at different times, at different locations. And then we can also make predictions about the affects of flooding or drought and so on, on what moisture is gonna be available in that soil for plant growth or different types of land use."
Dissolve slowly to a shot of the same activity that opens the piece. Fade to a shot of the GLOBE Teacher's Guide. Super over shot: Visit GLOBE at www.globe.gov
52. FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION AND MORE DETAILED INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW TO DO THIS PROTOCOL, PLEASE REFER TO THE GLOBE PROGRAM TEACHER'S GUIDE.
SLATE: Produced for The GLOBE Program® by DWJ Television.