Go to Soil/Land Use Practice Tests, Exercise, and Sample Questions
Training Resources for Soil/Land Use
One of our most important natural resources is soil. This resource is often overlooked by students and teachers interested in environmental issues. Professional conservationists, however, recognize the importance of soil in natural resource management and the interrelationships between soil, water, and other resources. Soil provides a growth medium for all plant life on our planet, including food and energy resources. Soil also provides habitat, filters water, and is used in constructing buildings.
ENVIROTHON Students will be able to:
- Recognize soil as an important dynamic resource
- Describe basic soil properties and soil formation factors
- Understand the importance of sedimentation in the formation of most Delaware soils
- Use the USDA Soil Survey to locate soil types and soil descriptions and understand what they mean
- Understand soil drainage classes and know how wetlands are defined by soil class in Delaware
- Determine basic soil properties and limitations such as mottling and permeability, by observing a soil pit or soil profile
- Identify types of soil erosion and discuss methods for reducing erosion
- Identify tools used by a soil scientist
- Utilize soils information in land use planning discussions
- Discuss how soil is a factor in or is impacted by nonpoint source pollution