The Soil Science Museum is a well-known scientific center

The famous naturalist Dokoutchaev always attached great importance to the wide dissemination of information on soil. Thanks to his efforts, the first Soil Science Museum was organized not only in Russia, but throughout the world. St. Petersburg began to attract not only connoisseurs of art, but also scientists.

Good Goals

The tasks of the established institution were the following: the development of a natural-science classification of soil types and the collection of the maximally complete collection of Russian soils and subsoil. This, according to Dokuchaev, was supposed to fill the most important gap in science and raise the level of soil science.

The Soil Science Museum opened its doors in 1904. The first exhibits were copies from the collections of Dokuchaev himself, who had previously exhibited in many cities of Russia, as well as in Chicago and Paris.

Exposition features

In the central part of the exhibition it was possible to get acquainted with the conditions of soil formation as a natural formation, and in the remaining sections - with its peculiarities in certain natural areas of the European part of the country. Each region was represented by a small monolith of typical soil for these territories.

Since the first years of its existence, the Soil Science Museum has played the role of the country's largest scientific center. Currently, it has an analytical laboratory and a library.

Transformations

In 1917, the Soil Science Museum was included in the soil department, which was opened at the Permanent Commission for the Study of the Natural Productive Forces of the Soviet Union. 1925 was marked by the opening of the exhibition under the direction of B. Polynov. At the renewed exhibition areas, departments were opened that revealed the features of the processes of soil formation and weathering, representing a systematically compiled collection of monoliths of soils in the European and Asian territories of the Union. At the same time, the Soil Science Museum was supplemented by a historical section.

New Horizons

Thanks to the organization of the Soil Institute, it became possible to comprehensively develop the Soil Science Museum. During the reconstruction, three departments were formed: pedagogical, systematic and demonstration. In the latter there was an introductory and soil-geographical department. All natural zones and their role in soil formation were considered in the most careful way.

In 1946, the hundredth anniversary of the birth of Vasily Dokuchaev was celebrated. In honor of this institution was renamed the Central Museum of Soil Science. V.V. Dokuchaev.

Zinaida Shokalskaya took up the development of the new general plan of the exposition. This was in 1950. As a result of painstaking work, the number of mock-ups and comparative productions of different soil types was increased.

Modern exhibitions

At present, the Soil Science Museum allows its visitors to learn about what is the soil as a special natural body, what are the ecological and geographic features of its formation, and also describes violations and protection of the soil cover, its transformations. It is noteworthy that information on each section is submitted in the form of a thematic-artistic complex. The latter includes scientific data in graphic, schematic and digital form. Artistic elements are represented by photographs, herbarium, dioramas, sculptures and landscape painting.

The main exhibits of the museum are, of course, soil monoliths. They are vertical sections of soil with a natural structure in the form of a prism. Their width is 22 centimeters, the height is one meter. At present, the exposition is represented by 332 specimens.

Basic collections:

- monoliths, characterizing the soil cover of the planet;

- cultivated soils;

- Recultivated;

- Reclaimed;

Anthropogenically disturbed soils.

Among the unique exhibits is a soil globe with a diameter of 1 m 20 cm, a monolith 125 thousand years old, an octagonal monolith 170 cm high from the Central Chernozem Reserve "Streletskaya Steppe" (Kursk region).

Excursions

The Museum of Soil Science (St. Petersburg) offers interesting educational programs for schoolchildren, students and all those interested in the secrets of the surrounding world. So, junior schoolchildren and preschoolers can get acquainted with the influence of climate, plants and soil on everyday life, traditions and customs of different peoples when viewing thematic cartoons. Also, the staff of the museum organize master classes for the manufacture of applications from seeds of plants growing on different types of soils. It's no surprise that even the toddlers visit the Soil Science Museum with interest. "Underground kingdom" is another excursion, during which children find themselves inside the soil and get acquainted with the peculiarities of the life of its inhabitants. After a fascinating journey to view, there are such cartoons as "The City of Bacteria", "The Journey of the Earthworm" and "The Super-Drops Rush for Help".

Students of the secondary school will be interested in excursions "Earth-Nurse", "What is the soil?", "Underground Kingdom" and "Natural Zones". Senior students and students - "The Sacrament of Fertility", "Soil of Russia", "Shagreen Skin of the Planet" and many others.

Special holiday

For many years, it has pleased visitors and helped to explore the world around the Soil Science Museum. The birthday of the institution in 2014 is special, because this scientific center is 100 years old.

Operating mode

The Soil Science Museum opens its doors at 10 am, and closes at five in the evening. On Tuesday, you can visit this institution without an appointment and without payment. Excursion is not provided on this day. Saturday and Sunday are weekends.