Activity Designed in Physical Geography Teaching: The Topic of Soil (original) (raw)

The joy of teaching soil science

Geoderma, 2014

The fundamental purposes of teaching are to impart knowledge, insight, and inspiration. Around the world, university teaching principles are changing as students also gain knowledge and inspiration in ways other than the in class room. Likewise, the soil science discipline is evolving as there is a newset of tools and techniques available by which we investigate soils, and the foci are shifting toward other disciplines and changing research questions. In many universities, the teaching of undergraduate soil science increasingly takes place to non-soil science majors. All these forces require some thinking about how we teach the subject and here we present some of our experiences and ideas of teaching soil science in different parts of the world. Some 15 examples are presented from Australia, Canada, France, Germany, New Zealand, Russia, Taiwan, The Netherlands, and the USA. As the research is widening so is our teaching. The examples are diverse and, despite cultural and personal differences, they showseveral trends. The cases represent vibrant and creative ways to teach soils, and the initial focus is to create a sense of wonder about the soil and its utilitarian and scientific value.

The soil in the classroom: a middle school case study

2016

The Earth sciences have a relevant role in building both scientific competences and citizenship skills; nevertheless, in Italian middle and high schools these are prevalently taught with a poorly effective transmissive approach. This work presents the results of a research carried out choosing the soil as a topic and a class of 11-12 years old pupils as target, aimed at exploring the effectiveness of laboratory-based teaching on the acquisition of permanent scientific competences and on the birth of an autonomous way of learning to learn. The teaching approach used well assessed didactic instruments such as the work group, the exercise book and the sharing of observations. The results show that most pupils were able to use the acquired scientific knowledges and skills in different situations and became more aware of their own learning.

Soil Science teaching principles

Geoderma, 2011

Soil Science is a unique discipline concerning a complex material that is part of many natural and utilitarian systems. As such, the teaching of Soil Science requires principles that reflect the nature of soil and the practices of soil scientists. Because no discipline-specific teaching principles could be found for Soil Science in the literature, an iterative approach was used to develop them, which involved input from students, academics, employers, graduates in the workplace, as well as published generic teaching principles. The synthesis of these perspectives was achieved via a series of cycles that first involved student feedback on Soil Science teaching from five Australian universities, combined with academic reflections on learning and teaching. The outcome of this activity was subject to perspectives provided by employers of soil scientists and practising soil scientists in the workplace. Quantitative and qualitative analyses of these sources and published generic teaching materials were blended into a set of 11 teaching principles of Soil Science that reflect the unique nature of soil and the outcomes required of graduates who have majored in Soil Science.

Learners' Ideas on ‘Soil' and Classroom Implications

In the present study the science learning context had been explored while the topic/area of explorations was 'SOIL'. About the first classroom the study reveals that 58 % of learners wanted to know something more on the topic and showed dissatisfaction with what was given in the book; 82% learners looked for other resources of learning; 28 % learners wanted to ask questions on the topic; 38 % learners said they planned/performed activities to find answers of their questions; 57 % learners said that they shared what they learnt with others; Most of the learners wanted to know more about soil; they were not satisfied with the lesson given in book; they tried to perform experiment on their own rather than taking help from other people. About the second classroom study reveals that Most of the learners wanted to know something more on the topic discussed in the class; they discussed & shared their observations & explanations with others; most of the learners wanted to know about the process of formation of soil; they thought they would learn better about the topic by performing an activity; learners shared their observations and explanations with others. And, about the third classroom the study reveals that 66% of learners did not want to know something more on the topic discussed in the classroom ; they shared their school experience with friends and parents; most of them talked to their parents to find out answers to the problems that they had in their minds. More exploration of the learners' questions like, -

Soil science education: A multinational look at current perspectives

Soil knowledge is essential to address modern global challenges. Soil science education began with soil survey and agricultural activities, with a focus on the traditional subdisciplines of soil chemistry, soil physics, pedology, soil mineralogy, and soil biology. Soil education has evolved to address the needs of an increasing variety of fields and increasingly complex issues, as seen through the move to teach soil content in programs such as biological and ecological sciences, environmental science, and geosciences. A wide range of approaches have been used to teach soil topics in the modern classroom, including not only traditional lecture and laboratory techniques, but also soil judging, online tools, computer graphics, animations, and game-based learning, mobile apps, industry partners, open-access materials, and flipped classrooms. The modern soil curriculum needs to acknowledge the multifunctionality of soils and provide a suite of conduits that connect its traditional sub-disciplines with other cognate areas. One way to accomplish this may be to shift from the traditional sub-discipline-based approach to soil science education to a soil functions approach. Strategies to engage the public include incorporating soil topics into primary and secondary school curricula, engaging the public through museums and citizen science projects, and explaining the significance of soil to humanity. Soil education has many challenges and opportunities in the years ahead.

Soil and environmental education

2010

since 2005 was motivated by the previous environmental program "Environmental Education Program on Water Resource Management" (FEHIDRO project 132/02). Based on the relationship between community, education and research institutions it was financed by a state fund for Water Management (FEHIDRO) and managed by the Turvo and Grande Rivers Drainage Basin Committee (CBHTG). The project offered continuous monitored visits to educators, teachers and students with some practical field activities on soil conservation and water management concepts. At the same time a qualification program focused on educators was carried out to give them enough knowledge and support to work with the technician themes at school with the students before they come on the field monitored visit. The project offered training for 50 educators at a time. The aim of the project was to raise the interest of educators on environmental topics they can experience when visiting the research unit so they could work and develop these concepts with the students A crew of environmental monitors is well prepared and enabled to transfer technician knowledge to students and this way act as multipliers in the local communities. The monitors developed 24 didactic activities based on the science school schedule as well the hydric resource preservation, soil conservation and the drainage basin recognition. The mission of the research unit is to of generate and transfer knowledge in the region and this project has made a great contribution to justify the existence of the Pólo Regional Centro Norte to the community. This project involved 66 municipalities that are part of CBH-TG and 31 linked to the Regional Teaching Directories of São José do Rio Preto, Catanduva, Votuporanga, and José Bonifácio cities of São Paulo state, enabling educational work through drainage basin conceptualization, water resources conservation and soil conservation practices; monitoring learning activities in environmental education program developed in the research unit area and activities.

Mapping Soils, Vegetation, and Landforms: An Integrative Physical Geography Field Experience

Professional Geographer, 2005

Students in a graduate seminar at Michigan State University produced a series of detailed vegetation, soils, and landform maps of a 1.5-square-mile (3.9 km 2 ) study area in southwest Lower Michigan. The learning outcomes (maps) and skill development objectives (sampling strategies and various GIS applications) of this field-intensive mapping experience were driven by the assumption that students learn and understand relationships among physical landscape variables better by mapping them than they would in a classroom-based experience. The group-based, problem-solving format was also intended to foster collaboration and camaraderie. The study area lies within a complex, interlobate moraine. Fieldwork involved mapping in groups of two or three, as well as soil and vegetation sampling. Spatial data products assembled and used in the project included topographic maps, a digital elevation model (DEM), aerial photographs, and NRCS (National Resource Conservation Service) soil maps. Most of the soils are dry and sandy, with the main differentiating characteristic being the amount of, and depth to, subsurface clay bands (lamellae) or gravelly zones. The presettlement (early 1830s) vegetation of the area was oak forest, oak savanna, and black oak ''barrens.'' Upland sites currently support closed forests of white, black, and red oak, with a red maple, dogwood, and sassafras understory. Ecological data suggest that these oak forests will, barring major disturbance, become increasingly dominated by red maple. This group-based, problem-solving approach to physical geography education has several advantages over traditional classroom-based teaching and could also be successfully applied in other, field-related disciplines.