Pedology

Code: GEO13327L

6 ECTS

Duration: 15 weeks/156 hours

Scientific Area: Ciências do Solo

Teaching languages: Portuguese

Languages of tutoring support: Portuguese, English

Regime de Frequência: Presencial

Sustainable Development Goals

Educação de qualidade - Assegurar a educação inclusiva, e equitativa e de qualidade, e promover oportunidades de aprendizagem ao longo da vida para todos.

Learning Goals

The aim of this curricular unit is to provide basic knowledge about the soil as a vital resource for agriculture and agricultural ecosystems. The students must be able to understand, interpret, describe and transmit generic information about the soil, namely, about its functions, basic constituents and properties, using appropriate technical language. They must be able to establish cause-effect relationships between soil parameters and agricultural soil uses, especially for plant production. It is expected that the students can distinguish the main soil units of the ?Classificação dos Solos de Portugal? and the corresponding units of the WRBSR, be able to read and to interpret soil maps in respect to some common morphologic and analytical soil parameters, and can describe main processes and causes of soil degradation related to generic agricultural uses.

Soil functions, soils in space and time. Soil profile, horizons and soil materials. Soil parent materials, main rock types and weathering. Soil composition. Soil chemical properties. Soil physical properties. Soil classifications. Soil maps and soil information systems. Soil degradation types and sustainable soil use.

Teaching Methods

This course is held on mixed classes with presentation of theoretical concepts and the execution of different types of exercises, namely, laboratory activities, problem solving and brief questionnaires. Although some work can be done in small groups, most practical activities are individual and require reports to be done outside the period, which have to be submitted to the moodle platform in predefined deadlines. The set of reports and brief questionnaires conducted throughout the semester is the continuous evaluation component.
Approval in the course requires the approval of mandatory written tests, which focus on the entire program (set of partial tests or a final exam). The final grade is given by the final exam grade (or by the average of the partial tests) and by the continuous evaluation.