InTeGrate Modules and Courses >Future of Food > Student Materials > Section 2: Environmental Dynamics and Drivers > Module 5: Soils as a Key Resource for Food Systems > Goals and Learning Objectives
InTeGrate's Earth-focused Modules and Courses for the Undergraduate Classroom
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These materials are part of a collection of classroom-tested modules and courses developed by InTeGrate. The materials engage students in understanding the earth system as it intertwines with key societal issues. The collection is freely available and ready to be adapted by undergraduate educators across a range of courses including: general education or majors courses in Earth-focused disciplines such as geoscience or environmental science, social science, engineering, and other sciences, as well as courses for interdisciplinary programs.
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For the Instructor

These student materials complement the Future of Food Instructor Materials. If you would like your students to have access to the student materials, we suggest you either point them at the Student Version which omits the framing pages with information designed for faculty (and this box). Or you can download these pages in several formats that you can include in your course website or local Learning Managment System. Learn more about using, modifying, and sharing InTeGrate teaching materials.
Initial Publication Date: January 11, 2018

Goals and Learning Objectives

Goals

  • Identify soil nutrients and soil function as key resource in need of protection for food production and food systems.
  • Describe spatial and geographic variation in soil resources and soil fertility.
  • Distinguish between preexisting aspects of biogeochemical cycling and human-induced processes that affect biogeochemical cycling.
  • Attribute different soil fertility outcomes in food systems to the coupled natural and human factors and feedbacks that produce them.

Learning Objectives

After completing this module, students will be able to:

  • Describe the basic properties of soil that distinguish it from mere "dirt".
  • Explain how soil serves as a medium for plant growth.
  • Explain how the five soil-forming factors interact to produce soils.
  • Explain the term "biogeochemical cycling".
  • Explain common limiting factors to plant growth that limits food production around the world.
  • Explain how nutrient and carbon depletion from soils and soil erosion create conditions of low food productivity.
  • Assess how farming practices affect soil fertility.
  • Analyze modern fertilizer use as the emergence of a strong human system impact on nutrients in soils that replenishes soil nutrients but can create nutrient pollution.
  • Analyze how natural/human system feedbacks operate to limit the actions of poorer food producers around the world.
  • Incorporate sustainability challenges related to soil nutrient management into an analysis of food systems.

These materials are part of a collection of classroom-tested modules and courses developed by InTeGrate. The materials engage students in understanding the earth system as it intertwines with key societal issues. The collection is freely available and ready to be adapted by undergraduate educators across a range of courses including: general education or majors courses in Earth-focused disciplines such as geoscience or environmental science, social science, engineering, and other sciences, as well as courses for interdisciplinary programs.
Explore the Collection »