List of Educational Material

Awareness Raising > List of Educational Material

Inventory of data at ESDAC (last update: 6/12/2009) - Number of Datasets: 25

Find below the list of Educational Material currently available at the European Soil Data Center (ESDAC). Some of them are freely available for download while other are restricted due to copyright rules. This list provides the Dataset Title, a Short Description and Target Audience, Publisher. Each Title is linked to the full dataset description. This list represents the current state of affairs and is by no means final in length and contents. The list will be adapted as new data will be generated or current data will be updated. In case you pocess EDUCATIONAL Material related to SOIL Awareness, you are welcomed to contact Panos Panagos.

Soil-Net.com
	Soil-Net.com is a free and compelling environmental Internet resource for Key Stages 1-4 providing teachers and students extensive curriculum-based information about soil. As one of the three major natural resources, alongside air and water, soil is vital to the existence of life on earth. Soil-Net.com will help you discover what soil is, the teeming life in soil and about the many environmental threats facing soils. Remember, soil is all around us, just under our feet!	Target Audience: Primary and Secondary School Publisher: Cranfield University's National Soil Resources Institute

FarmNet
	Provides some information on environmental resources. TeachNet Ireland seeks to improve student learning by helping primary and post primary teachers to integrate web-based resources into their instructional practice. Through TeachNet, teachers have access to curriculum resources, curriculum and technical specialists, grants and a supportive network to further develop their skills.	Target Audience: Teachers and Students Publisher: TeachNet Ireland

INFOVEK Slovakia Project
	The aim of the Infovek Project in English InfoAge Project is to prepare the young generation in Slovakia for life in the information society of 21st century in order to prove competent in the knowledge economy, to create the preconditions for our young generation to be competitive on the forming global labour market, especially in comparison with the young people of the same age from the European Union. School is the most important place where this transformation must take place. In order to be able to provide for this hard task, the school must change itself from a traditional school to a modern school of the third millennium through the information and communication technologies .	Target Audience: Primary and secondary schools Publisher: Association of the project Infovek - Faculty of Mathematics Physics and Informatics of Commenius, University in Bratislava and Department of the project Infovek; Ústav informácií a prognóz skolstva, Slovak Ministry of Education

U'LET - LET Group (Learning, Exercise and Test system)
	On-line Learning, Exercise and Test system for Training in Virtual Environment. Presents integrated university classroom education and e-learning, to give relevant and precise information to everybody, the so called blended learning. Model based on results of Summer school "Environmental and Resource Management". Combination of classroom and video recorded lectures with links to literature, case studies and tests via web and student workshops combined with field trips. With authentic software solutions they provided many technical possibilities for integrating e-learning and classroom .	Target Audience: Teachers and Students (University) Publisher: University of Ljubljana, Center for Soil and Environmental Science

Env-Edu.gr : Environmental Portal
	Environmental Education for Primary Schools. (Perivantologiki Puli gia to Dimotiko Sxoleio)	Target Audience: Primary Schools Publisher: University of Aegean

"Dirt Doctor's" website
	Starting in 2007, the Institute has been highlighting how soils play a crucial role in almost every aspect of our lives. A series of public events are championing the importance of this under-rated resource for our food, fuel, wildlife, water - even our climate - but also warn us of the potentially irreversible damage if we continue to take soil for granted. Available also "cartoon soil profiles" !!!	Target Audience: Secondary School Publisher: Macaulay Land Use Research Institute

Soil conservation in Europe
	The state of the art of soil erosion research in Europe has recently been described in great detail in the book Soil Erosion in Europe . The present website is meant as an inventory and overview of the current state of soil conservátion in Europe. The intention is to make existing information on soil erosion control practices readily available to farmers, farmer's organisations, policy makers and other interested parties in Europe. The site is a collection of links to erosion control efforts in individual European countries that can be found on the Internet.The site only deals with soil erosion by rain, not by wind. It does not deal with other forms of soil degradation than erosion	Target Audience: Farmers, farmer's organisations, policy makers and other interested parties in Europe Publisher: Frans Kwaad

Rocks and soils
	An interactive BBC workshop in which children aged 7-8 can test a variety of rocks in terms of their properties	Target Audience: Students Aged 7-8 Publisher: BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation)

Green Pack
	A toolkit for teachers of environmentally themed subjects and others active in environmental education. The Green Pack's interactive, multi-media presentation makes it a lively source of information for anyone interested in environmental challenges . Soil is at the upper level of the Earth's surface, the base on which our planet's land life has developed. Plants are connected to the soil by their root system, through which they draw nutrients and water. Soil is considered to be alive because it is inhabited by many living organisms. Moreover, it is always in a process of formation or destruction (erosion).	Target Audience: Teachers, Students Publisher: Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe,

Soils around the World
	Soil s evovle long periods of time from bedrock material. Mature, more developed soils are arranged in layers, called horizons. The A horizon, nearest the surface contains lots of organic material. Beneath this, B horizon, or subsoil, is generally rich in clay minerals that leach from above. The C horizon, the deepest layer, contains partially weathered bedrock. Because different locations around the world have different climates, topographies and support different kinds of organisms, soil types vary in colour, texture and mineral composition.	Target Audience: Teachers, Digital Media, Classroom , Professionals, General Public Publisher: Teachers' Domain

Plant and Soil Sciences eLibrary
	On-line lessons developed the Department of Agronomy and Horticulture at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln to meet the needs of lower-level undergraduate students in earth and environmental sciences	Target Audience: Publisher: Department of Agronomy and Horticulture at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Looking at Soil Profiles
	Soil is everywhere in fields, gardens, woods. Even in pots in houses for house plants. It is what plants need for growth, but what is it actually made of? Soil is a mixture of small rock particles weathered away from rocks, with rotted (composted) vegetation, known as humus.	Target Audience: General Public Publisher: Science Project Ideas

Just for Kids
	Hi Kids! Im Wilbur, the soil wizard. Whats your name? I live in the soil. What is Soil? Soil is the top layer of the Earths surface, like frosting on a birthday cake! Its the stuff you play on in your backyard. Your grass grows on it. You might call it dirt instead of soil. Soil is made from rocks that are broken up into tiny pieces, as well as dead leaves, roots, twigs, dead bugs, and stuff like that. It also has water and air in it.	Target Audience: Children Publisher: Bureau of Land Management's National Science & Technology Center in Denver, Colorado, USA

SoilScience Education
	An entry to the many aspects of soil: Every Soil Has A Story, Soil As Art, Music About Soil, Human Impacts On Soil, Words and Thoughts About Soil, Working with Soil	Target Audience: General Public Publisher: NASA

The pedoshere and its dynamics
	Since its inception in 1999, Pedosphere.com aimed to become an extensive repository of Soil Science knowledge through partnerships with major international organizations and also be an active player in global Soil Science education by creating high quality, interactive resources that engage both students and instructors. The development of internet technologies has lead to a glut of information, therefore, there is a tremendous need to organize information, convert it to knowledge and manage the knowledge for specific purposes such as global education. The original aims of becoming key Soil Science knowledge managers and active global educators is now entering its second phase of actualization. Important parts of this site is the Soil Science Test Center: A Tool for Enhanced Learning	Target Audience: Professionals Publisher: Pedosphere

GLOBE Teacher's Guide
	GLOBE 2005 Soil Chapter: Why Investigate Soils?, Soil Characterization Protocol	Target Audience: Primary school pupils , Teachers Publisher: GLOBE (Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment))

The Dirt on Soil
	Down e Dirty: Explore the many layers of soil. We know less about life in the earth under our feet than we do about the far side of the moon. Yet every plant and animal you can think of depends on this vast hidden ecosystem. Soil Safari: Micro-size yourself for this journey underground	Target Audience: School Pupils Publisher: Discovery and Education

The soil profile (pedology)
	Soil serves as a natural reservoir of water and nutrients, as a medium for the filtration and breakdown of injurious wastes, and as a participant in the cycling of carbon and other elements through the global ecosystem. It has evolved through the weathering of solid materials such as consolidated rocks, sediments, glacial tills, volcanic ash, and organic matter. The bulk of soil consists of mineral particles composed of silicate ions combined with various metal ions. Organic soil content consists of undecomposed or partially decomposed biomass as well as humus, an array of organic compounds derived from broken down biomass.	Target Audience: General Public Publisher: Britannica Encyclopedia

The Breathing Forest
	A movie outling carbon cycle research in forests and its relevance to the global carbon cycle . One of the most important sources of CO2 in the forest is the respiration of the millions of organisms that have their homes in the soil.	Target Audience: General Public Publisher: Royal Society, Stockholm Environment Institute

DIRT! - the Movie
	Following its surprise success at this years Sundance Film Festival, "DIRT! the Movie" --narrated by Jaime Lee Curtis-- brings to life the environmental, economic, social and political importance of soil. The film takes the viewer inside the wonders of the soil by telling the story of Earth's most valuable and underappreciated source of fertility--from its miraculous beginning to its crippling degradation. The movie shares the stories of experts from all over the world who study and are able to harness the beauty and power of a respectful and mutually beneficial relationship with soil. The opening scenes of the film dive into the wonderment of the soil. Made from the same elements as the stars, plants and animals, and us, "dirt is very much alive." Though, in modern industrial pursuits and clamor for both profit and natural resources, our human connection to and respect for soil has been disrupted. "Drought, climate change, even war are all directly related to the way we are treating dirt."	Target Audience: Public, Policy Makers Publisher: Dirtthemovie.org

BGR - Links to Soil awareness and education
	The collection of links provides internet available teaching material for action oriented and interdisciplinary learning in school and extracurricular learning. Most of the resources contain basic soil information as well as curriculum-based worksheets, which allow teachers to choose different topics against problem, school type, age group and educational concept.	Target Audience: Primary and Secondary School, Extracurricular Educational Institutions Publisher: Bundesanstalt für Geowissenschaften und Rohstoffe - Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources

SoilWeb 200
	The SoilWeb 200 is a web-based, interactive teaching tool developed to assist students in understanding fundamental concepts and processes of soil science. Developed in 2004 at the University of British Columbia (UBC), SoilWeb200 aims to (i) enhance connectivity of material covered, (ii) allow for inclusion of a greater variability of learning styles, (iii) increase students motivation for learning about soil, and (iv) link the material presented in this undergraduate course to research carried out by soil scientists at UBC and other research institutions in North America.	Target Audience: Lower level undergraduate students in natural resource sciences Publisher: Faculty of Land and Food Systems, University of British Columbia, Vancouver BC, Canada

Soil Orders of Canada
	Soil Orders of Canada is a virtual learning resource on soil identification and classification based on the Canadian soil classification system. The resource consists of 10 videos that illustrate characteristics of 10 soil orders (i.e., the broadest, most general classification category) accompanied by demonstrations of various soil description and identification techniques.	Target Audience: Lower level undergraduate students in natural resource sciences Publisher: Faculty of Land and Food Systems, University of British Columbia, Vancouver BC, Canada

Virtual Soil Processes
	The Virtual Soil Processes is a teaching tool was developed to illustrate the four general soil forming processes - additions, losses, translocations and transformations. The tool is used both as an in-class and off-campus resource in various natural resource courses, such as soil, agriculture, forestry, environmental sciences, or geology, across British Columbia and beyond. One of the principle goals of this project was to partner with experts from the various institutions and pool their knowledge in the creation of this unique learning resource that would be available to anyone.	Target Audience: Lower level undergraduate students in natural resource sciences Publisher: Faculty of Land and Food Systems, University of British Columbia, Vancouver BC, Canada, Thompson Rivers University, Kamloops, BC Canada, University of Northern British Columbia, Prince George, BC, Canada

The Land Use Impacts (LUI) Tool
	The Land Use Impacts (LUI) Tool provides university students with multimedia web-based experience to assist in teaching about impacts of various land uses on the University of British Columbia Endowment Lands on soil formation and soil quality. The tool was designed by a team of soil scientists, graduate students, and multimedia specialists with the intention of appealing to multiple learning styles and providing greater access to information	Target Audience: Upper level undergraduate students in natural resource sciences and the general public Publisher: Faculty of Land and Food Systems, University of British Columbia, Vancouver BC, Canada

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European Commission - Joint Research Centre
Institute for Environment and Sustainability
Contacts:
Marc Van Liedekerke(tel. +39-0332-785179)
Panos Panagos (tel. +39-0332-785574)