Dig It! soil exhibit runs May 16-Aug. 16

Be sure to check out the N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences’ “Dig It! The Secrets of Soil” exhibit running May 16 through Aug. 16 in Raleigh.

This special 5,000-square-foot traveling exhibit transports visitors to the world beneath their feet through displays, videos and interactive exhibits, and helps celebrate 2015 as the International Year of Soils.

One exciting feature of the exhibit is a display of soils from all 50 states, each with different colors and textures. Each state selected a soil to represent it and provided a sample to be displayed. For North Carolina, Cecil soil was selected. This type, characterized as old, red, forest soils, encompasses 1.6 million acres across the central Piedmont and is the state soil.

This soil type supports agricultural crops and forestland, and is the basis of North Carolina’s rich pottery tradition, where it can be turned into pots, bowls and vessels.

Other features of the exhibit include scale models showing the soil makeup below a house and yard, videos and displays about how soils support life and a display about soils from around the world.

The exhibit is a collaboration of the National Museum of Natural History (Smithsonian), Soil Science Society of America and the Agronomic Science Foundation. For more information, go to http://forces.si.edu/soils/.