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In this lesson, students collect ground-dwelling arthropods to compare the biodiversity of different habitats. The lesson allows them to explore the importance of biodiversity, arthropod communities, terrestrial ecology, and classification.
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Soils are extremely complex and fascinating ecosystems. In this lesson, students extract and identify invertebrates from different soils. It's an excellent lesson in biodiversity, invertebrates, ecology, behavior, and science methodology.
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Field burning is a controversial issue in the Inland Northwest. This lesson allows students to debait the pros and cons of field burning.
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This lesson allows students to develop and experiment with possible solutions to the global warming problem, with an emphasis on carbon sequestration in soils. It provides background material on the causes and consequences of global warming and examines the role of agriculture it mitigating its effect.
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This is a comprehensive, experiential-based lesson that lets students explore the relationship between habitat type, soil organic matter, and biodiversity of soil invertebrates. It includes information on constructing Berlese funnels, conducting experiments, and writting lab reports.
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In this lesson, students conduct internet-based research on the structure, mode of action, uses, and environmental problems associated with common pesticides used in the Inland Northwest.
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In this lesson, students develop and conduct simple experiments to determine the effects of biotic and abiotic factors on seed germination. It's an excellent lesson on scientific methodology and the preparation of lab reports.
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Soil bacteria are primarily responsible for the decomposition of organic matter and are essential to ecosystem functions. In this lesson, students use a dilution plate technique to count the number of bacteria found in 1 g of soil.
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This is a series of experiments that allows students to explore the chemistry and physics of soils, including pH, soil charge, movement of chemicals in soil, water holding capacity, texture, composition, moisture, and percolation. Soils are an excellent medium for teaching applied chemistry and physics.
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Soil erosion is a significant global and regional problem, contributing to the loss of fertile soil and numerous other health and environmental problems. In this lesson, students will explore the causes and consequences of soil erosion and its impact on regional agriculture.
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Organic matter is the key to nutrient recycling and plant growth in terrestrial ecosystems. In this lesson, students measure the organic matter content of different soils, and discuss the importance of soil organic matter. The lesson can also be combined with the lesson on Global Warming and Carbon Sequestration.
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