Duration
44h Th, 8h Pr, 6h AUTR
Number of credits
| Bachelor in bioengineering | 5 crédits | |||
| Master in agroecology (120 ECTS) | 5 crédits |
Lecturer
Language(s) of instruction
French language
Organisation and examination
Teaching in the second semester
Schedule
Units courses prerequisite and corequisite
Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program
Learning unit contents
Introduction - Soil and its interactions in the environment
First part - Pedogenesis, morphology, classification
Chap. 1. Soil-forming factors
Chap. 2. Soil profile
Chap. 3. Soil classification
Second part - Soil constituents
Chap. 4. Methods of identification and quantification of soil constituents
Chap. 5. Mineral constituents
Chap. 6. Organic constitutents
Chap. 7. Soil water
Chap. 8. Soil aeration and temperature
Chap. 9. Soil biology
Third part - Soil properties
Chap. 10. Soil exchangeable complex
Chap. 11. Soil acidity, alcalinity, salinity and sodicity
Chap. 12. Biogeochemistry and fertility: N and S
Chap. 13. Biogeochemistry and fertility: P and K
Chap. 14. Biogeochemistry and fertility: Ca, Mg and micronutrients
Chap. 15. Time and spatial scales in pedogenesis
Learning outcomes of the learning unit
Basic training on soil functioning knowledge, demonstrating the organization of the system as a bio-physico-chemical reactor and the importance of its understanding for sustainable use of the environement.
At the end of the course, the student will be able to:
- describe soil profile and deal with the 12 groups of soil type in the world (USDA classification)
- understand the distribution of organic and mineral constitutents as a function of soil-forming factors
- intepret the causal relationship between constitutents, properties and functioning of soils
- Define the differents criteria of pedological diagnosis
- Evaluate soil fertility status depending on soil properties
- Relate soil properties with the resulting practical effects in terms of soil management
- understand ecological and environmental implications of soil distribution in space and time
Prerequisite knowledge and skills
Earth sciences
General chemistry
Chemistry of equilibrium
General physics: particles mechanic
General physics: thermodynamic
Biosphere, agriculture and society
Planned learning activities and teaching methods
Classroom lectures, and active learning: field teaching and flipped classroom
Mode of delivery (face-to-face ; distance-learning)
classroom lectures: 42h
active learning flipped classroom: 12h
Field teaching: 4h
Recommended or required readings
slides (ecampus)
Assessment methods and criteria
written exam
Work placement(s)
Organizational remarks
Contacts
Professor: Jean-Thomas Cornelis (jtcornelis@ulg.ac.be)
Assistant: Felix de Tombeur (felix.detombeur@ulg.ac.be)
Avenue Marechal Juin, 27, Bâtiment Géopédologie n°52
Adaptation of teaching commitments following the COVID-19 pandemic for the May-June 2020 session
Teaching methods implemented : distance-learning
Further to the lockdown, teaching of chapters 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14 are given remotely, via podcast using UNICAST. Specifically, this is in line with 4 time slots of 2 hours of face-to-face teaching:
- chap 10 = 1 time slot of 2h, given by podcast on 16-03-20
- chap 11 = 1 time slot of 2h, given by podcast on 19-03-20
- chap 12 = 1 time slot of 2h, given by podcast on 26-03-20
- chap 13 & 14 = 1 time slot of 2h, given by podcast on 30-03-20
The chapter 15 will not be taught this 2019-2020 academic year
Regarding the practice teaching and the field trip "toposequence", the subject has been taught remotely via a live video feed on the field by the teaching assistant Felix de Tombeur. This ensures that students get all the necessary teaching to carry out their flipped classroom exercise that must be delivered on 05-04-20
Assessment subjects
All chapters of Soil Science course (from chapter 1 to chapter 14) will be subject to exam, except chapter 15 that has not been taught.
Assessment methods
Soil Science exam for the academic year 2019-2020 will be done remotely via the tool "Homework" of E-CAMPUS, on June 18, 2.00 to 6.00pm
We wish to be as similar as possible to the exam usually done. The exam will organized as follows:
- flipped classroom exercise will be scored by the teaching account and will account for 3 points of the final performance score
- 3 questions to evaluate your understanding of concepts, 2 points each (TOTAL /6)
- 3 question to evaluate your thinking capacity, with short replies (less than 6 lines), one for 3 points, and 2 questions for 4 points (TOTAL /11)
The exam requiere a reliable web connexion to access e-campus where the exam will be uploaded and where you will have to submit your exam when finished. The teacher's objective is to make the situation the most comfortable possible for the student, and will therefore apply the following methods:
- the necessary time to reply peacefully the exam is estimated to 1h30
- the real duration of the exam will be 3h30, allowing the student to manage his time of evaluation as smoothly as possible (as such taking into account your lockdown-induced work environment).
- the teacher JT Cornelis will be connected to COLLABORATE during defined period of the exam to reply to the student's questions. The exam will start with a presentation of the questions by the teacher
- if computer major issue the day of the exam, the teacher will be reachable by phone (0032471785512). A solution will be found for the student, who cannot be responsible for the difficult situation
- the evaluation method will be orally explained by the teacher during the Q-A session organized via COLLABORATE on April 27 (9.00-11.00)
- During the exam, the access to external resources is strictly forbidden
Contacts
tcornelis@uliege.be
phone number: 0032471785512