From left to right, Tama Soil & Water Conservation District Commissioner Jan Wobeter and Dysart-Geneseo Media Aide Peg Hennings. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Tama Soil & Water Conservation District (SWCD) celebrated Soil & Water Stewardship Week this year by donating conservation books to local elementary school libraries throughout Tama County.

On behalf of her students, Dysart-Geneseo Media Aide Peg Hennings has received four conservation-themed books presented by Tama SWCD Commissioner Jan Wobeter. These large-format books include narrative in both English and Spanish and are written for lower elementary students.

“Where Does Your Water Shed?” explores what a watershed is and how each of us impacts the watersheds we live, work and play in. Within each watershed, all water runs to the lowest point such as a stream, river, or lake. On its way, water travels over the surface and across farms, fields, forest lands, suburban lawns, and city streets or it seeps into the soil and travels as groundwater. People influence what happens in watersheds, good or bad, by how the natural resources – the soil, water, air, plants, and animals – are treated and can affect the quantity and quality of water flowing from a watershed.

Where our food comes from is explored in “Soil to Spoon.” What is food’s connection to the soil you walk on? What happens as food moves from where it’s grown or produced until it appears on your plate?

Soil is an amazing substance filled with marvelous things. This complex mix of minerals, air and water also teems with countless microorganisms and the decaying remains of once-living things. How soil is made of life and soil makes life is discovered in “Dig Deeper-Mysteries in the Soil.”

Local Heroes – Your Hardworking Pollinators

When we think about what we ate yesterday for breakfast, lunch and dinner, we start to understand the importance of pollinators in our own diets. We can thank pollinators for one in three mouthfuls of food and drink! The main group of pollinators are insects, although there are other animals that help. Pollinators face many threats, including the loss of habitat (nesting and foraging habitat), the effects of pesticides, pests and diseases, the effects of climate change, and pressure from invasive plants. Without pollinators, many plant species in natural habitats would become extinct.