Soils and Land Use

You may not pay much attention to it, but there is a lot going on underneath your feet! Soil is the foundation for all terrestrial life. Soil shapes our landscape. It nourishes plants – growing crops, grasses, and forests to form the basis of our food webs. It serves as a natural purifier for water, filtering out toxins and pollutants. It helps to recycle nutrients and provides habitat for fungi, microbes, and fossorial animals. The health of the soil is essential to the health of terrestrial ecosystems and to our way of life.

In this area of study, students will learn about soil characteristics, structure, ecology, conservation practices for urban, rural or agricultural lands, responsible land use planning and more.

Learning Objectives

Each area of study is divided into several different key topics, which vary from subject to subject. Underneath these key topics, you will find relevant learning objectives applicable to that topic for the level of testing expected at the NCF-Envirothon annual international competition-level testing.
Please Note:
1) In an effort to make the Learning Objectives as comprehensive as possible, the overall number of items for each area of study may be quite long! It is important to note, that not every learning objective listed will be used for every competition. These Learning Objectives serve as an overview of the types of knowledge and skills expected of students at the international level of competition. Please refer to the subject area resources for this year’s competition (typically posted in May of the competition year) for specific relevant topics.

2) If you are a new Envirothon team or Advisor (who has never trained or competed before), please check with your local State or Provincial Envirothon Program representative before you begin team trainings based on these Learning Objectives. Your local program may have their own learning objectives that students are expected to know that differ from those listed below. Every team that competes at the NCF-Envirothon annual international competition has to FIRST qualify by winning their local state, provincial or partner nation Envirothon competition, so team training should focus on information, resources and/or learning objectives developed for that competition-level.
View the Soils and Land Use Learning Objectives below: