Soil at school project – Geography department of the University of São Paulo

Hello guys! Starting the activities of this blog, nothing more fair than a presentation about who we are and what we want! The research project on Soil Education, started in the Department of Geography of USP, under the initiative of Prof. Dr. Déborah de Oliveira in 2010. At the beginning there was only one student who started the research, in 2011 another 3 students joined us, constituting our group. Soil education is often forgotten in schools, or treated in a simple way, which can generate students disinterest. We will disseminate in this space the results of our research, guidance to teachers, experiments and exchange of experiences for soil education, after all it is a finite natural resource, as many others that must be respected and preserved. Beyond academic research we want to disseminate and make accessible materials and teaching methods that help teachers, students, and even other researchers in Soil Education. We will do this by addressing the subject of soil in a

Soils in regions of Andean Arid Climate    In July, I made a trip to Bolivia and Peru, and I came across totally adverse and unusual landscapes and weather. The dry climate at this time of year and the altitude transforms the landscape into a beautiful desert surrounded by mountains with snowy peaks.                                   (Mariana Franco de Carvalho 07/2012) But what interests us here is to observe one aspect of the Andean landscape, which immediately catches our eye, the desert soil. As a didactic example, I will take as an example, the city of Arequipa in Peru. Arequipa is located at the foot of the Misti volcano (with more than 5800 m of altitude) its urban site is close to the Coastal Desert of Peru, with maximum annual temperature not exceeding 23ºC and minimum low temperature of 6ºC. Average annual rainfall does not exceed 96.5 mm per year. Between April and October, rainfall is very low with averages of 0.5mm, and in July this index is 0. Arequipa,

Good afternoon friends, Today I am going to present a little bit of a fieldwork I did in the Grand Canyon (USA).                                          Photo by: Déborah de Oliveira, 2012.   Geology and slope strongly influence the formation of Grand Canyon soils, so they are classified as underdeveloped. The soils are highly variable, ranging from the soils of the humid forests of the Northern Rim to shallow. The Grand Canyon is formed by several layers of sandstone, schist, limestone, and so on. Erosion, mainly by water (and ice) and second by wind, were responsible for carving the Grand Canyon. Other forces that contributed to the formation of the Canyon are the course of the Colorado River itself, volcanism, climate variations. The Grand Canyon National Park, near the city of Flagstaff, I consider the most interesting place to visit because there is a geological museum and guides available to explain about the origin of the place.                        

Folks! How important is soil to human beings? This video can be used in the classroom to present the importance of soil to students! See the video:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1wKImkrdno

The Earth Colors Project of the Federal University of Viçosa (UFV) teaches how to make earth-based paints. These paints can be very effective for painting external and internal walls. By using them you can avoid the use of common paints that, besides being expensive, leave that strong smell in the environment. These inks only requires soil, water and white glue. See    some  explanatory slides for the preparation of paints on the Project website :  Click here! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- See also a video of the project: PAINTING WORKSHOP - COLORS OF EARTH

Layers of edible soil A Portuguese company of educational toys and owner of the channel Science4you, produced a video to teach in a ludic (and edible way) the layers of the ground. The ingredients are accessible and the explanation is quite interesting for those who want to start the "soil" subject with their little scientists.

Learn more about this day by clicking below. https://www.embrapa.br/busca-de-noticias/-/noticia/11582581/dia-nacional-da-conservacao-do-solo-sua-historia-e-um-alerta-da-fao