Surprising Facts About Soils, Students and Teachers! A Survey of Educational Research and Resources

Abstract

Soil is one of the key resources that sustain life on Earth, not just as the foundation for almost all our food supplies, as important as that is, but also in the way that it fi lters water, supports biodiversity, and perhaps even moderates global climate. Yet the world's soils are under increased pressure on many fronts. They face unprecedented threats from erosion, deforestation, deserti fi cation, salinization, sealing (paving over), contamination, loss of biodiversity, and climate change. The importance of soil and the need to sustain it against these threats, however, have elicited little interest, not only by scientists and the general public, but also by the educational systems of most countries. While increasing attention has been paid to other important environmental topics, such as loss of biodiversity, climate change, deforestation, fresh water availability, and the world's oceans, little attention has been placed on soil so far.

Soil science education for Grades K–12 in Canada

“…student understanding of soil science in different countries, both before and after instruction: New Zealand (Happs 1981(Happs , 1984, Britain (Russell et al 1993), Germany (Geyer et al 2003(Geyer et al , 2004Randler and Hulde 2007), Turkey (Gulay et al 2010), and the United States (Lippert 2006). Detailed reviews of those studies can be found in Hayhoe (2013). Very little research, however, has been published on elementary teacher understanding of soil science (Hayhoe 2013).…”

“…Detailed reviews of those studies can be found in Hayhoe (2013). Very little research, however, has been published on elementary teacher understanding of soil science (Hayhoe 2013). With this in mind, several years ago, the authors started developing a multiple choice survey to use with incoming elementary teachers regarding soil science.…”

“…With this in mind, several years ago, the authors started developing a multiple choice survey to use with incoming elementary teachers regarding soil science. Some preliminary results have been reported several years ago (Hayhoe 2013). Subsequent to this, the survey was revised, with the help of several soil scientists, including Dr. Maja Krzic of the University of British Columbia and Prof. Paul Voroney of the University of Guelph.…”

“…While Hillel was probably referring to secondary and postsecondary students, it can be argued that the primary years are not too early for students to learn some key concepts about soil as well as some basic practices necessary to conserve soil (Geyer et al 2004;Broll 2011). Unfortunately, soil is not found as a topic in its own right in the K-12 science curricula of most countries around the world (Hayhoe 2013). In Canada, in contrast, we are fortunate to have detailed soil science curricula mandated in most provinces at the Grade 2 or 3 levels, as well as individual soil science outcomes included in middle and secondary school life science and environmental units of study.…”

Environmental Precesion: Importance of Worm Manure in Sustainable Agriculture

“…Soil is one of the most important resources which supports the life and basically acts on biodiversity, food supplies, filtering of water and global climate as well (Hayhoe, 2013). As it reported in many studies, organic matter in the soil is essential for health of soil and its productivity in addition to toxicity of some elements that are affecting accumulation of dry matter and seed yield while fertilization have significant effects on mineral status of the soil, health of plant and quality of the products (Krzebietke and Sienkiewicz, 2010;Palta and Karadavut, 2011;McPhee et al, 2012;Jankowski et al, 2014).…”