This zone is called as the zone of aeration. It is present between the earth's surface and the water table, and its main constituents are the soil and rocks. The pores which are present in this zone are partly filled with water, and may mix up with air, causing aeration.
I feel it's to easily differentiate the positive from the negative...... like in gram staining of bacteria, the colour tell us which bacteria is gram positive or gram negative...... I just feel that this is science and it is advisable to know what the opposite result of an experiment should look like.