{"id":26656,"date":"2025-06-27T12:40:57","date_gmt":"2025-06-27T16:40:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ilsr.org\/?post_type=article&#038;p=26656"},"modified":"2025-10-09T15:10:41","modified_gmt":"2025-10-09T19:10:41","slug":"compost-and-soil-microscopy-mini-course","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/ilsr.org\/es\/article\/composting-for-community\/compost-and-soil-microscopy-mini-course","title":{"rendered":"Compost and Soil Microscopy Mini-Course"},"template":"","class_list":["post-26656","article","type-article","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","article_type-fact-sheets-guides","initiatives-composting-for-community","topics-agriculture","topics-climate-change","topics-on-farm-composting","impact_areas-climate-and-environmental-justice","authors-linda-bilsens-brolis"],"acf":{"details":{"featured_image":26658,"background_color":"tan","article_type":[31],"initiative":15,"display_event_fields":false,"start_date":null,"end_date":null,"start_time":null,"end_time":null,"time_zone":"America\/New_York","virtual_event":false,"location":"","topics":[50,62,99],"impact_areas":[16],"abstract":"The Compost and Soil Microscopy Mini-Course introduces the microbial life that exists in healthy soil and the basics of using a microscope and your senses for a relatively low-tech and inexpensive way of assessing compost and soil health.","authors_tax":[635]},"sidebar":{"title":"\u00cdndice"},"page_layout":[{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_wysiwyg","_acfe_flexible_toggle":"","component_wysiwyg":{"content":"<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Are you a gardener, farmer, or other soil steward interested in being able to identify organisms that are present in healthy soil? Are you a composter who wants to know how to monitor compost quality yourself? Or are you an educator interested in sharing the wonders of the rich ecology found beneath our feet with your students?<\/span>\r\n\r\n<b>The Compost and Soil Microscopy Mini-Course introduces the microbial life that exists in healthy soil and the basics of using a microscope and your senses for a relatively low-tech and inexpensive way of assessing compost and soil health. <\/b>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Commissioned by ILSR and based on LA Compost\u2019s <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.lacompost.org\/communitysoilhealth\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Community Soil Health<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> educational programming, this mini-course invites you to become a community scientist to help grow our collective understanding of our soils, regardless of your experience level.\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Compost and Soil Microscopy Mini-Course consists of an informational Soil Health Discovery video that introduces key concepts, an accompanying Soil Health Discovery Guide to deepen understanding, and Compost + Soil Health Learning Activities to guide hands-on learning.<\/span>\r\n<h2><b>Soil Health Discovery Video<\/b><\/h2>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/8za3ZTQqj7s\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">20-minute video<\/a> introduces:\u00a0<\/span>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">An overview of soil ecology &amp; microbiology\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Microscope basics<\/span><\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Comparison of different soil and compost samples<\/span><\/span><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>","":null,"settings":""}},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_basic_html","_acfe_flexible_toggle":"","component_basic_html":{"heading":"","code":"<iframe width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/8za3ZTQqj7s?si=XdUMl2xGHi4MlEIl\" title=\"YouTube video player\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>","width":"narrow"}},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_wysiwyg","_acfe_flexible_toggle":"","component_wysiwyg":{"content":"<hr \/>\r\n\r\n<h2><b>Soil Health Discovery Guide<\/b><\/h2>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/d2g9c.share.hsforms.com\/21WZJGgqzRamibUN0EVoytg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img class=\"alignleft wp-image-26660 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/ilsr.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Soil-Health-Discovery-Guide-Cover-231x300.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"231\" height=\"300\" \/><\/a>This 22-page guide builds on the concepts introduced in the video, and also provides step-by-step instructions for using a microscope and collecting a compost or soil sample, as well as guidance on where to get access to a microscope.\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\n<a class=\"btn :version-1 :size-1 :full-width-false\" role=\"button\" href=\"https:\/\/d2g9c.share.hsforms.com\/21WZJGgqzRamibUN0EVoytg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Descargar la gu\u00eda<\/a>\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n<hr \/>\r\n\r\n<h2><b>Compost + Soil Health Learning Activities\u00a0<\/b><\/h2>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ILSR develops <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/ilsr.org\/articles\/composting-learning-activities\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Actividades de aprendizaje sobre el compostaje<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to assist composting sites in training their own community participants. The Compost and Soil Mini-Course includes two:<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/d2g9c.share.hsforms.com\/28UuavRk2TeqqFt3mWjtBTg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img class=\"alignleft wp-image-26675\" src=\"https:\/\/ilsr.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Microbe-Identification-SROSSI-01-232x300.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"194\" \/><\/a><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/d2g9c.share.hsforms.com\/28UuavRk2TeqqFt3mWjtBTg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Microbe Identification Under the Scope<\/a><\/strong><\/span>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Practice identifying the soil microorganisms that influence soil health.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/d2g9c.share.hsforms.com\/2nJS3pbqqQ6uVx49yLRv7Tg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img class=\"alignleft wp-image-26676\" src=\"https:\/\/ilsr.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Sensory-Sampling-SROSSI-02-232x300.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"194\" \/><\/a><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/d2g9c.share.hsforms.com\/2nJS3pbqqQ6uVx49yLRv7Tg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Sensory Sampling<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/span>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Use your senses to make observations and hypotheses about which microorganisms you will find in your soil or compost sample.<\/span><\/span><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n<hr \/>\r\n\r\n<h2><b>Want to dig deeper?\u00a0<\/b><\/h2>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Reach out to LA Compost\u2019s Community Soil Health team at <\/span><a href=\"mailto:learn@lacompost.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">learn@lacompost.org<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> with questions about the Introduction to Compost and Soil Microscopy Mini-Course.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Connect with your local library, school, university, or community gardens to find or create soil health study groups!<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Learn about the role of composting for fighting food waste, restoring soil health, and building community with ILSR\u2019s <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/ilsr.org\/es\/composting\/online-certificate-course\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Curso en l\u00ednea con certificado \u00abCompostaje comunitario 101\u00bb<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (enrollment is open on an ongoing basis and the course can be completed at your own pace).<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Echa un vistazo a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.the131school.com\/courses\/soil-winter-2025\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">SoilWise\u2019s Soil Microbial Assessment Certificate Course<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for a more in-depth training in soil microscopy and its use for assessing compost quality and soil health (this course has scheduled offerings with limited space).<\/span>\r\n\r\n<hr \/>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\"><em>Este proyecto ha sido financiado en parte por la Agencia de Protecci\u00f3n Ambiental de los Estados Unidos en virtud de un acuerdo de asistencia en materia de reciclaje, educaci\u00f3n y divulgaci\u00f3n (REO) con el ILSR.<\/em><\/p>","":null,"settings":""}},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_feed","_acfe_flexible_toggle":"","component_feed":{"heading":"Learn More","link":{"title":"More from Composting for Community","url":"https:\/\/ilsr.org\/resources-publications\/?initiatives%5B%5D=15&topics%5B%5D=all&authors%5B%5D=all&sort=newest","target":"_blank"},"manually_curate":true,"posts":[18212,26654,25537,25478],"select_post_types":[],"select_taxonomy_terms":[]}}]},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast 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