Abstract
Biological interactions are one of the most common ways in which students learn about the ecological and evolutionary processes that shape biodiversity, but plants and soils are rarely included when teaching this material. This contrasts with the fact that students encounter and rely on plants and soils every day, and most interactions a plant experiences happen belowground. As a result, many students unintentionally cultivate a fauna-centric viewpoint of the natural world, meaning they are likely to miss the importance of plants and soils in nature or the ecosystem services they provide. Ultimately, this puts them at a disadvantage to make well-informed environmental decisions in the future. The purposes of the role-playing activity are: (1) to engage students in a more active interpretation and discussion of the interactions between plants and soils, and (2) to connect these interactions to the larger ecological concepts of drivers of biodiversity.