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SOIL511 Productive Soil Systems

Credit Points 6
Offering
Responsible Campus Teaching Period Mode of Study
Armidale Trimester 1 Off Campus
Armidale Trimester 1 On Campus
Intensive School(s) None
Supervised Exam There is no UNE Supervised Examination.
Pre-requisites candidature in a postgraduate award and permission of Head of School
Co-requisites None
Restrictions SOIL311 or SOIL411
Notes None
Combined Units SOIL311 - Productive Soil Systems
Coordinator(s) Chris Guppy (cguppy@une.edu.au)
Unit Description

Soil sustains life. However, increasing world population places exhaustive demands on limited soil resources. Students leave this unit with an understanding of the interactions between soil, plants, nutrients, water and climate resulting in productive systems. Students will understand the principles behind increasing resource use efficiency in soil systems. Critical thinking will be encouraged through problem based scenarios designed to emphasise the key processes driving soil fertility. Students will be able to interpret soil and plant tests, diagnose plant nutritional constraints, recommend management options to improve soil productivity, and assess the claims of the myriad products available to improve soil health.
Recommended Material
Optional 		Text(s):

Note: Recommended material is held in the University Library - purchase is optional

Lecture Notes for Soil and Nutrient Cycles
ISBN: ARDA02
School of Environmental and Rural Science
Note: Available from the United Campus Bookshops, UNE
Text refers to: Trimester 1 , On and Off Campus
Disclaimer Unit information may be subject to change prior to commencement of the teaching period.
Assessment
Title Exam Length Weight Mode No. Words
Assignment 1 30% On/Off Campus 3000
Assessment Notes
Project using pot trial to assess soil fertility problem with alternate experimental designs
Relates to Learning Outcomes (LO) and Graduate Attributes (GA)
LO: 1, 3 GA: 1, 5, 6
Assignment 2 30% On/Off Campus 900
Assessment Notes
Three components assessing scientific writing and interpretation skills
Relates to Learning Outcomes (LO) and Graduate Attributes (GA)
LO: 2 GA: 2, 4, 8
Assignment 3 20% On/Off Campus 2000
Assessment Notes
Literature review on topical soil fertility issue
Relates to Learning Outcomes (LO) and Graduate Attributes (GA)
LO: 1, 3 GA: 3, 4, 7, 8
Unit Test 20% On/Off Campus 1500
Assessment Notes
Physics and Biology
Relates to Learning Outcomes (LO) and Graduate Attributes (GA)
LO 1, 3, 4 GA: 1, 4

Learning Outcomes (LO) Upon completion of this unit, students will be able to:
  1. critically appraise scientific literature related to aspects of soil fertility and plant nutrition;
  2. interpret soil and plant tissue tests and make recommendations to producers;
  3. critically appraise products used in agronomic situations using scientific principles; and
  4. understand factors affecting plant growth in agronomic situations

Graduate Attributes (GA)
Attribute Taught Assessed Practised
1 Knowledge of a Discipline
Knowledge of soil fertility is examined through problem solving exercises designed to integrate numerous aspects of advanced soil fertility. 		True
2 Communication Skills
Students are required to write reports using scientific paper formats and present orally the data generated from practical experiments. 		True True
3 Global Perspectives
Students are exposed to guest lecturers describing soil fertility from international perspectives by experienced scientists. 		True True
4 Information Literacy
The unit exposes students to scientific writing skills and oral presentation skills and requires critical review of literature and information from numerous sources. 		True True
5 Life-Long Learning
Students are expected and exposed to critical thinking and problem solving through tutorial exercises setting them up to question every piece of information that they may come across. 		True True
6 Problem Solving
The unit revolves around problem solving exercises established each week and discussed in the group. 		True True
7 Social Responsibility
The environmental consequences of soil fertility from population and landscape perspectives are critically taught and conveyed. 		True True
8 Team Work
Students are required to undertake experiments as a group and present information from within that group through running pot trials that last many weeks are designed as a team. 		True True
   

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