| Workshop I Task, Topics,
& Strategies - (revised 9/19/07)
A
World Tour of Soils - Soils by Continent:
what
are the distribution, characteristics, & pedogeneses of soils on each
continent,
their
biospheric importance, and current environmental issues surrounding these?
Assignment
- links to Group Presentations
Topics
Logistics
Group
& Individual Responsibilities
Presentation
Format
Resources
Assignment
-
-
Each group
has selected a continent to focus on:
-
Central &
South America - Zac Davies, Phil Garcia, Meghan Mariani, & Michelle
Trogdon (ppt,
6.8M)
-
Africa -
Meredith Albright, Rande Kamolz, & Wade Grewe (ppt,
7.5M)
-
Europe+Asiatic
Russia - Taylor Mills, Mario Guzman, & Jen Morse (ppt,
2.9M)
-
Australasia
- Kate Edwards, Tyler Huntley, Kerry Malm, & Brian Murtaugh (ppt,
1.2M)
-
includes
New Zealand, Papua/New Guinea, Indonesia, Philippines
-
Asia (x-Siberia
x-Malay Archipelago) - not taken
-
In your group,
select the topics to focus on in order to cover the continent (see Topics).
-
Work on these
in smaller groups or individually, come back together to integrate your
presentation as a group.
-
Have a good
draft of your information pulled together for the 1st Day of the Workshop
(Tues 9/25). This will be a full class meeting devoted to working
on your group presentation and with an opportunity for instructor feedback.
Topics
-
-
Generally,
your task is to cover:
-
the what,
where, and why of the soils of the continent
-
biospheric
importance of these soils
-
human
benefits from and impacts on the soils
-
this is
to say: what is the sustainability of human societies vis-à-vis
use of their soil resources
-
Cover such
key information as: (select from these, you're not expected to cover
the lot)
-
The distribution
of Soil Orders, and giving reasons for their occurrence
-
you can use
the 'Five Factors' as appropriate
-
& talk
about several of these Orders together that occur along a 'factor gradient'
in this continent
-
be sure to
remind your audience what these soils are and key processes that led to
their formation
-
Associated
characteristic vegetation & fauna - what are their relationships with
these soils
-
Typical human
uses & impacts, and conservation of these soils
-
Role in global
climate change - what connections are there of these soils and soil processes
to atmosphere, cryosphere, hydrosphere, & biosphere change and the
climate system
-
Do research
beyond the text - that is, don't merely reinterate information in the book
-
Stress what's
interesting, perhaps unexpected about these regions' soils
Logistics:
-
Work in 4
groups of 4-5 (groups assigned to balance backgrounds)
-
First workshop
day is a working meeting to develop ideas, research, and create a group
presentation
-
Second day
is for presentations (15-20 min/group depending on size; ~3 min/person)
-
Practice,
practice, practice to be sure your presentation doesn't go over.
-
Each person
is expected to contribute equally to the presentation
Grading:
both individual and group components
Group
& Individual Responsibilities -
-
The presentations
are on the 2nd Day (Thurs 9/27)
-
These are
group presentations:
-
with individuals
responsible for presenting one part of it,
-
but with
the group coming up with the overall organization
-
& everyone
helping to synthesize information for each topic
-
Every group
member should be familiar with what the others are going to present
-
Be sure to
share tasks evenly
Presentations
Format -
-
Each person
will have 5 minutes - limited because of number of presentations and 75-min
class time
-
Given that
you have limited time for the presentation - be sure to practice:
-
Go though
the process of: practicing, modify/focus your talk, & practice again
to stay within time limit (points off for going over, btw)
-
Focus
on your most important messages
-
Format is
PowerPoint presentations
-
ask for my
or others' assistance if you are not familiar with this software.
If you don't have MSOffice available to you - let me know as soon as possible
-
In designing
your PPt, the First Rule is to keep it simple! Text
as bullets, don't crowd slides, no bells/fancy backgrounds/animations,
etc - but do use images to illustrate your points
-
Presentation
grading criteria:
-
group organization
- overview, set-up for individual topics, summary
-
individual
presentations - content, clarity of presentation (visual & oral)
-
staying w/in
time allotment
Resources
-
-
World soil
maps
see also links at:
-
You may find
soil names that do not match those in the Soil Taxonomy used in
the text, but rather are from FAO's World Reference Base
soil system. For a guide to these 'soil groups' (e.g. "Leptosols"):
-
Related Web
pages for "Soil Geography - Soil 4505," Prof. Terence Cooper, University
of Minnesota, St. Paul:
-
Soills in
the Tropics (from C&SoAmer, SEAsia, Africa, Hawai'i) - images:
-
Soil Orders
references
-
Images of
soil profiles: http://soils.usda.gov/technical/soil_orders
(pdf's)
-
US soil order maps & descriptions
-
Soil Orders
profiles handout (developed for a course in Brazil) (pdf,
400k)
-
Soil
Orders study guide - Part I
& Part II
-
Your mnemonics:
-
U,
General
Al
And His Ox Save Money
In Arid Vertical Environments
- Brian
-
Even
I
Am
Giving
Heros
A Voluminous
Message
About
Underwater
Safety
Ordinances
- Meredith
-
Anything,
anyone
is
usually
moved
or
surprised
at
has
very
esoteric
greatness
- Jennifer
-
Eating
hairy
moldy
applesauce
gags
individuals
andvomit
arises
upon
seeing
oddity
- Zac
-
Text figure
of Soil Orders by factors & degree of weathering (jpg)
|
