43
TINY LIFE
A small amount of soil contains billions of
tiny living creatures, called microbes. They
can usually only be seen under a microscope,
which is how scientists study them.
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The trillions of microbes
found in soil don’t just sit
around – they do lots of
useful jobs. For example,
some change nutrients
into forms that plants
can absorb as food. This
means that the plants
grow big enough for us
to eat ourselves!
Microbes can be
seen in large numbers
as blue and green slimes on
the surface of soil. These can
be microscopic plants (algae),
bacteria, or mixtures of both.
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042-043_Microscopic_life.indd 43 31/10/2019 14:05