Under Your Feet

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