Soil your Undies

We’ve been exploring the brilliant Soil Your Undies project with pupils at Kirkhope and Yarrow Primary Schools!

The children have been getting hands-on with a fun experiment that helps us learn about what’s happening beneath our feet — exploring soil health, decomposition, and the amazing world of tiny organisms that help our environment thrive. 

Through curiosity, teamwork, and a little bit of muddy science, pupils have been discovering why healthy soil matters for plants, wildlife, and our planet.

A big well done to everyone involved — future soil scientists in the making! 

Kirkhope and Yarrow Schools are just two of the 50 primary schools which have been invited to take part in ‘Soil Your Undies’. Each P5 class participating will be given a pair of cotton pants and invited to bury them. After eight weeks they can be dug up again and the state of decomposition can be used to analyse the health of the soil in which they were buried. This is why the experiment is called ‘soil your undies’.

The relationship between soil and climate change is complex but is becoming better recognised. Healthy soils sequester significant amounts of carbon; however, they are also vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. We'll have some hands-on soil health workshops coming up this summer showing some of the benefits that a better understanding of soil health can have for your garden and the climate.