Soils: Charting New Territory in High-School Education.

Referred far too often as simply “dirt,” soil is an under-appreciated and valuable natural resource that provides a vast array of essential ecosystem and agricultural functions. Increasing atmospheric deposition of pollutants and ever-intensifying land-use through mining, deforestation, wetland drainage, and intensive agriculture have degraded soils globally and continue to threaten this essential natural resource. Yet enrolment in soil science courses in undergraduate programs across the country has been declining in recent years. One of the reasons for this trend is due to lack of exposure of elementary and high school students to the study of soil science. To address this, we are aiming to introduce soil science concepts and potential career paths into high school science curricula across Canada. Our NSERC- funded initiative will include promoting learning about the importance of soil as a natural resource through the development of engaging, interactive online resources for both high school teachers (in the form of lesson plans) and students, and through development of an open-access web site. Our national collaboration includes faculty and graduate students from six Canadian universities with select high schools in the Greater Toronto Area and Vancouver slated to be initial “test markets” for implementing and improving the educational resources. The web site will showcase a variety of Canadian research projects that address a wide range of land-use impacts on soil and illustrate career paths of soil scientists. The estimated number of students to be reached is about 5000 per year. This project will be carried out in three annual phases with a projected deadline for the final product by December 2012. Upon its completion, the web site will be administered and maintained by the Canadian Society of Soil Science.