Conley-Wilson+Film+Entry+10+-+Dirt

Word Count 543 Dirt!

The film titled //Dirt! The Movie// discusses the issues revolving around modern day’s society’s relationship with the world, more simply put dirt. The film composed of professionals of all different fields discussing their views on dirt and interactions with them. These statements are paired with animations of the micro-organisms living in dirt. This film also gives examples of ways people in various locations are creating organizations and programs that better the environment, including both rural and urban locations. The begging of the film seemed pretty unfocused and disorganized, in my opinion, however as the film progressed I felt as if became more organized creating a concrete theme being improving our relationship with dirt. Although this film could use some restructuring I thought that the film does a fantastic job depicting how earth is used in various cultures and parts of the world. The evaluation of the film in my perspective is a pretty positive except for a few blimps here and there. They seemed to focus on Christianity’s theologian which is understandable based on time constraints.

An exercise for any age group that would reconnect them with dirt is think about all the different places they see dirt. A more engaging aspect to dirt could allowing a map of dirt to be created which can track the various ways dirt impacts their lives. The teacher of the class or group could ask them what can be made from dirt, why is dirt important, and even how dirt is made? This activity can occur from different perspectives of wildlife, plants, and people of different parts of the world. The message of this activity is to get children, adults, and teens thinking about what dirt really is and understanding the value of dirt.

My personal favorite activity regarding getting involved in dirt is tending to a local or personal gardening. Gardens can be found near any school from urban, rural, and suburban areas in the United States. I believe every child can benefit from actively engaging in some form of farming because it provides various benefits to a person’s mental, emotional, and physical health. My only concern about proposing this as an activity is it accessibility to some physically handicapped students. There are various benefits to students taking a trip to a farm or creating their own garden, likewise the benefits to them connecting to dirt.

Students need to be connected to dirt because it connects them to the holistic thinking and to the world outside of human society. This is important to their education because many aspects of education is recognizing how people, cultures, organisms and infrastructure in related to all the other things on the planet. This could heighten these children’s comprehension in regards to to reading and writing, along with a new level of understanding of science. I believe this is important for students to learn because it can help them develop personally and academically in ways they may not achieve otherwise. Allowing children to play outside and reconnect with the dirt in a physical way could have countless benefits to emotional, physical, and mental health. Reconnecting children to dirt will allow them to have a genuine connection with the world and each other along with improving their general health and minds.