Martha Murphy

Unit 1: Impacts of Land Use part of A Growing Concern
In this introductory unit, students will learn about the fundamental role of observation by viewing photographs of both agricultural and non-agricultural (natural) landscapes and making independent observations. ...

A Growing Concern: Sustaining Soil Resources through Local Decision Making part of A Growing Concern
Educating undergraduates about soil sustainability is central to our agricultural future. Soil erosion outpaces soil production and soil management is key. This teaching module provides undergraduates with ...

Unit 2: Soil Characteristics and Their Relationship to Land Use Practices part of A Growing Concern
In a hands-on exploration, students will learn to describe and quantify the porosity and permeability of soil models representative of both agricultural and natural environments. Students will use this information ...

Unit 5: Predicting the Effects of Climate Change on Soil Loss part of A Growing Concern
Students will investigate how the factors that influence erosion work together to produce an overall erosion rate. In agricultural areas, these factors are rainfall-runoff erosivity, soil erodibility, slope ...

Unit 6: Creating an Agricultural "Fact Sheet" part of A Growing Concern
For a given region, students will use what they have learned about the interdisciplinary problem of soil sustainability to make recommendations for agricultural practices in response to potential changes in ...

Unit 3: Natural and Agricultural Erosion Rates part of A Growing Concern
Students will identify their perceptions of erosion by examining images of mountain and agricultural landscapes and discussing which environment is more erosive. They will use geospatial figures to compare erosion ...