Course ID: AGRO 4761,
Soil Judging, Sr. Level
FALL 2007
Prerequisites: AGRO
2251 Soil Judging, Sophomore level, 1 credit, 2 hours
laboratory.
Text(s) and
supplemental books and materials:
Soil Survey
Manual, 1993 USDA NRCS publication.
Available for viewing or downloading at http://soils.usda.gov/technical/manual/download.html
Field
Book For Describing and Sampling Soils, ver. 2.0 USDA-NRCS
publication. Available for downloading or viewing at:
http://soils.usda.gov/technical/fieldbook/index.html
(NOTE: If you print this out, be sure and adjust
your printer according to directions. It
is best to go ahead and order a waterproof hardcopy version for $25. See the above web site for instructions on
ordering.
Professor’s name:
Paul B. Francis, AG 103, 460-1314,
Office hours: M,W,F 8-10; M,T,Th 11-12; W,F
1-4
Special policies
statement:
1. Any student caught
in an intentional, premeditated and blatant act of cheating on any assignment
will be given the option of withdrawing from the course or receiving an
‘F’.
2. Attendance at all
class functions is required.
Attendance records will be kept on file for the occasional request from
student loan representatives and potential employers. Please notify the instructor if you are having to miss a class meeting so that it can be
recorded as an excused absence.
Special dates of
concern:
Oct. 22-26 – American
Society of Agronomy Region IV soil judging contest. Hosted by
Goals and objectives:
The objective of this
course is to train the student on advanced measurements and interpretations
used by the USDA Soil Survey in describing soils. At the completion of this course the student
will be able to:
- Accurately dentify soil texture classification and percent clay in the
field.
- Accurately characterize
soil colors using the Munsell color system.
- Distinguish soil
horizons, redoximorphic features, soil structure,
structure grade,
master horizon
designations, transitional phases, and sub-surface horizon
features used in
classification.
- Be able to
interpret the suitability of soils for various agriculture, forestry,
engineering and
recreation uses.
- Know the taxonomic
classification of soil orders, sub-orders, great group,
sub-groups and
family.
- Know the formative
elements for names of dominant Great Groups and their
connotation in the southeast region of the
- Be able to
differentiate between different soil mapping units in a field survey.
- Understand the
relationships between soil development and landscape, geology
human activity and
time.
Provisions for tests
and evaluations:
Grading will be based
primarily through class participation and successful completion of class
projects, such as field descriptions of soils.
Unexcused absences and failure to successfully complete assignments will
result in letter grade deductions.
Grading policy:
The philosophy of
grading in this course is that all students will begin the semester with a
letter grade designation of ‘A’. Failure
to successfully complete assigned tasks will result in one letter grade
deduction. An integral part of the
learning process is participation in the American Society of Agronomy Region IV
soil judging contest. Therefore, all
students are required to attend and compete in the contest to ensure that they
receive an ‘A’ for the course.
NOTICES:
“It is the policy of the
“UAM will no longer mail grade reports to all
students. You may access your grades
through Campus Connect on the UAM Homepage, www.uamont.edu. To have your grades mailed to you, complete
the grade request form available in the Registrar’s Office in
“The following action is prohibited under the Student
Conduct Code: Disorderly Conduct: Any behavior which disrupts the regular or
normal functions of the University community, including behavior which breaches
the peace or violates the rights of others.”