Tuesday, February 5, 2013

It's Not Dirt!!! Know Soil Know Life

 
 
 
 
“Without soil we’d be hungry, naked, and homeless," says Clay Robinson, a New Mexico soil scientist and co-editor of Know Soil Know Life, a new book published by the Soil Science Society of America (SSSA) for high school students and undergrads.
 
This book is co-edited by one of our very own! David L. Lindbo is current president of SSSA, and a soil science professor at N.C. State. Covering topics such as soil biology, soil chemistry and classification, this book challenges the reader to gain a new perspective on so called "dirt" as it weaves a thread of human connection throughout and in a capstone chapter titled "Soil and Society".
 
Soon to be at the Environmental Literacy Center, a full review of the book can be found here.
 
For K-12 lesson plans on soil, SSSA has launched a bank of resources found here.
 
Soil science can be correlated to the following areas in the Essential Standards:
 
1st Grade Science: The properties of soils, basic plant needs
3rd Grade Science: Ecosystems- Environmental conditions for plant growth, soil properties
5th Grade Science: Ecosystems- Producers, consumers, and decomposers
6th Grade Science: Formation of soil, monitoring the lithosphere
8th Grade Science: Interconnectedness of energy in the food web and the cycling of matter, Interactions of producers, consumers, and decomposers
Earth/Environmental Science: Factors affecting the lithosphere, erosion and weathering, human impacts on lithosphere, Conventional and sustainable agriculture
Biology: Ecosystems- flow of energy and matter, Human impact on the environment