| Abstrakt: |
The degradation of soil in Australia is arguably the most important environmental issue facing that country. Despite the efforts of those in governing bodies and conservation groups, the education of youth on this problem is still largely based on high school textbooks and occasional media releases. With the emergence of computers as an alternative mode of teaching, an opportunity has arisen for educating young people about soil degradation through a medium they find familiar and interesting. Consequently, a computer program dealing with numerous aspects of soil degradation has been developed. Entitled “The Soil Stack,” it has a target audience of high school and university students (16-20 year olds), and is presented in a series of cards grouped together as stacks. For those students with little or no knowledge of soil science, several stacks are devoted to background information on soil, while the body of the program deals with the five main types of soil degradation occurring in Australia. In each of the stacks dealing with degradation, an interactive model allows the user to choose parameter values before calculating an estimate of degradation. This stimulates students to experiment with the various parameters to determine which have the greatest effect. Feedback from high schools indicates that the program is being actively used to teach students soil science subjects in both agriculture and geography curricula. The ease of use of The Soil Stack, the interactive models, explanatory graphics, and wide range of topics make it an interesting and valuable addition to the education material on soil degradation available in Australia. |
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