Carol Greene - I Love Our Land

OUR EARTH, OUR LAND

Did you know that the most important land is covered in soil? This land lets people grow food. Land can also be covered in sand or rocks. Learn why land is so important to everyone, and what it is used for, and ways to save our land every day!

"THESE EASY BOOKS SHOW YOUNG PEOPLE HOW TO CARE FOR OUR EARTH"

About the Author

Carol Greene is the author of over 100 books for children. She has worked as a children's book editor and a teacher of writing for children.

Soil covers much of our land.

We need it for food. We need it for a home. We need it because it is beautiful. What is it? Land.

More than half the earth is covered with water. What isnt covered with water is land. Some of this land is just rocks. Some is just sand. But much of the earths land is covered with soil.

Soil is made of different kinds of ground-up rock, dead plants and animals, air, and water. All land is important. But land covered with soil is most important to the living things on earth.

Many animals get their food from the land. These sheep are eating grass.

People, plants, and animals need a place to live. Seaweed, sharks, and shrimp make their homes in water. But roses, bears, and people must live on land.

People and animals also get much of their food from the land. Corn, apples, and peanuts all grow on the land. Cows eat grass, and bees make honey from flowers that grow on the land.

Many plants get food right from the soil they grow in. They soak it up with their roots. Some animals, such as worms, find their food in the soil.

Sometimes we dont use the land. We just enjoy it.

We look at the Rocky Mountains or the Grand Canyon. We stand in a forest of pine trees or a garden full of roses. Then we know that land is important because it is so beautiful.

Millions of people visit the Grand Canyon every year.

These cliffs were formed by soil erosion.

It is easy to harm the land. Sometimes people put poisons in the soil to kill weeds and insects. Sometimes they put fertilizers in the soil to make plants grow bigger. Too many of these things are bad for the soil. After a while, plants wont grow anymore. Sometimes animals die.

Wind can blow soil away. Water can wash it away. This is called erosion. Sometimes erosion just happens. But sometimes people make it happen.

A farmer might leave a whole field bare or put too many cattle in one place and let them eat it bare. Bare soil soon blows or washes away.

Cutting down too many trees can make erosion happen. The roots of trees and plants help hold soil in place.

People also harm the land by dumping trash. Some put their trash in huge, open dumps. Open dumps are smelly and ugly. Rats live there and spread diseases.

Some people put their trash in landfills. The trash is covered with soil and new trash goes on top. Landfills are cleaner than open dumps. But we are running out of places to put them.

Sometimes people put wastes on land. Wastes are left over after burning or making something. Some wastes can harm or even kill living things.

Bad ways of mining also harm the land. Some miners just tear the land away and leave big scars behind.

Litter is a problem, too. It looks ugly, and an animal might eat it and get sick.

Many countries set aside land that belongs to everyone. This is called public land. The government takes care of it.

But governments do not always do a good job. They let some people cut down too many trees, mine, dig for oil, or kill animals. This makes all the people poorer, because their land has been harmed.

Open trash dumps are not good for people or our land.

Too many trees are being cut down. Trees are important to all living things.

These children are planting a new tree.

People can stop harming the land. Farmers can stop using poisons and fertilizers that harm the soil. They can use safe pest killers and fertilizers.

Soon, special new plants may help them grow better crops. Farmers can keep plants in all their fields. They can give cattle more land to feed on. This would be better for the cattle, too.

Better ways of farming will help stop erosion. But people must also stop cutting down so many trees. They must plant new trees. People must stop dumping so much trash, too. They can recycle things. Used cans, glass, paper, and plastic can be made into new things.

People must put harmful wastes in very safe places so they will not hurt people or animals.

People can use better ways of mining. They can stop littering and clean up old litter. They can ask governments to take better care of public land.

People can do many things to care for our land. Some will be hard work. Some will cost money. But we must do them.

Recycling is one way that you can help save our land.

You can help care for the land, too. Here are some things you can do.

• Talk to your family about recycling, if you dont already do it. Tell them its important and promise to help.
• Dont litterever. Clean up litter when you can.
• Dont ask for junk toys. They will soon break and end up as trash.
• Use things over and over. Take your lunch in a lunchbox, not a paper bag. Take a cloth bag to the store and put the things you buy in it.
• Spend some time just looking at the land around your home. What is beautiful about it? How could people make it more beautiful?