Exhibitions as An Effective Medium for Soils Education.

Exhibition design and construction is a robust business enterprise in the United States and natural science topics are popular exhibit themes. The Smithsonian’s exhibit Dig It! The Secrets of Soil demonstrated that exhibits hold great potential for inspiring and educating the public about soils. Limited testing suggested that the Dig It! exhibit changed preconceived notions about soils and soil science. The exhibit achieved this goal by taking an ecosystem approach, emphasizing the breadth of soil science, linking soil to everyday objects, and presenting soil as a key feature of contemporary environmental issues. Although the broad scope and large physical scale of the Dig It! exhibit contributed to its positive reception by the public, there is great untapped potential to communicate soil science through exhibits that vary in theme and are smaller in size. In order to realize this potential, soil educators will need to become familiar with the exhibit production business.