Topic: Consequences of soil degradation

Target group

Second‑grade student of high school or technical school, basic programme

Core curriculum

General requirements

II. Skills and application of knowledge in practice.

6. Anticipation of the effects of human economic activity in a geographical environment.

Specific requirements

X. Agriculture, forestry and fishing: factors of agricultural development, structure of agricultural land, areas of cultivation and animal husbandry, sustainable forest management, fisheries (sea and inland, aquaculture). Pupil:

1) explains the influence of natural and non‑natural factors on the development of agriculture in the world.

General aim of education

To familiarize students with the impact of soil degradation on limiting the possibility of producing agricultural goods.

Key competences

• communication in foreign languages;

• digital competence;

• learning to learn.

Criteria for success
The student will learn:

• you describe the relationship between the degree of soil degradation and the possibility of producing agricultural goods;

• provide examples of measures to prevent soil degradation and to increase productivity in agriculture.

Methods/techniques

• activating

  • discussion.

• expository

  • talk.

• programmed

  • with computer;

  • with e‑textbook.

• practical

  • exercices concerned.

Forms of work

• individual activity;

• activity in pairs;

• activity in groups;

• collective activity.

Teaching aids

• e‑textbook;

• notebook and crayons/felt‑tip pens;

• interactive whiteboard, tablets/computers.

Lesson plan overview

Before classes

• Before classes, the instructor recommends students to read at home with all the material from the lesson „Effects of soil degradation” in the e‑textbook.

Introduction

• The teacher explains the aim and planned course of the lesson. They explain the success criteria to be achieved by the students.

• The teacher plays the abstract recording for all students. Participants listen carefully and give feedback on the difficulty of the text being heard using the traffic light method. Students are provided with green, yellow and red cards. While listening to the recording, they display the appropriate color for self‑assessment and to inform the teacher:
  green - I'm fine, I understand everything;
  yellow - I have some doubts;
  red - I do not understand anything, please help.
  The teacher responds depending on the needs of the students, deciding to repeat the recording, listen to the recording while following the text or translate the text.

Realization

• The teacher divides the class into groups and each of them assigns one of the continents listed in table 1 in the lesson. On the basis of a map showing the share of arable land in the total area of countries in the world, map of terrain (wall or atlas) and other sources, students indicate possible causes of soil degradation on a given continent, including incorrect agricultural management.

• The individual groups successively present the effects of working together. At the end of this part, the teacher asks students to compare individual continents and to draw general conclusions on the relationship between the degree of soil degradation and factors such as climate, landform and agricultural activity.

• The class jointly analyzes and discusses charts showing forecasts of food demand and changes in food supply in the world. The teacher asks students to think about how to reconcile the growing demand for food, forcing more and more intensive agriculture, with activities aimed at reducing the degree of soil degradation.

• Each group draws up a list of activities that are worth implementing on the previously analyzed continent, to increase the possibility of agricultural production, taking into account the specificity of a given continent. Groups successively present and discuss their ideas, explaining in detail the motives of the adopted solutions.

• The teacher uses the text of the abstract for individual work or in pairs, according to the following steps: 1) a sketchy review of the text, 2) asking questions, 3) accurate reading, 4) a summary of individual parts of the text, 5) repeating the content or reading the entire text.

Summary

• The teacher asks the students questions:

  • What did you find important and interesting in class?

  • What was easy and what was difficult?

  • How can you use the knowledge and skills you have gained today?

  Willing/selected students summarize the lesson.

The following terms and recordings will be used during this lesson

Terms

Texts and recordings

Consequences of soil degradation

The intensity of soil degradation varies. For every continent, it means a reduction in the capacity to produce agricultural commodities. However, the problem does not have the same significance everywhere.

In Europe, the population is growing very slowly and, in addition, many agricultural products are imported. Also, in the highly developed countries of Europe, North America, and Asia, productivity is rising and agricultural production on undegraded soils is increasing. In Africa, especially Sub‑Saharan Africa, the situation is totally different – the population is growing very fast, and low levels of economic development make it difficult or even impossible to import food from abroad.

The statistical data prepared by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations show a positive trend over the years. Therefore, me may hope that it will continue. This will be possible not only thanks to the activities presented in the lesson Food consumption in the world. Forms of aid to the poorest countries, but also to the stopping and reversing of the trend of soil degradation.
This can be done in many ways. For example, plowing across slopes prevents the washing away of soil, buffer strips weaken the wind thus reducing the evaporation of water and the blowing away of soil, proper crop rotation reduces over‑exploitation of soil and the need for fertilization.

• Agriculture transforms the soil, interrupting the natural food chain, which can result in soil degradation.

• The most frequent causes of soil degradation are overgrazing, deforestation, and poor agricultural management.

• The largest percentage of degraded soils is in Europe, but the largest areas are in Asia.

• Global per capita tendencies in food production are on the rise, but the effects could be better if the trend of soil degradation was reversed.