Developing soil protection training materials based on experimental procedures for age between 10-14 in Hungarian public education

Abstract

The choice of this study was inspired by recognition of gaps around the general knowledge and protection of soil. The poor knowledge of society today about soil protection puts the livelihoods of all life forms on Earth at risk. Loss of soil natural functions could have serious consequences in the future. Regeneration of soil as a non-renewable resource is too long to be defined on a human scale. The Food and Agriculture Organization of United Nations raised the awareness of the importance of healthy soil in connection of healthy, nutritious food production and importance of public awareness of soil protection. Therefore, it is necessary to integrate the basic theory and practice of soil protection into public consciousness, general and public education, and higher education too. Further generations will grow up without tangible knowledge and voluntarily or unintentionally destroy the essential foundation of our existence, the fertile soil. For this reason, it is important to thoroughly investigate the existing materials in the topic of soil protection in the National Core Curriculum and teaching materials. After a thorough research in the Hungarian Core Curriculum, it is clearly recognizable, that the topic of healthy soil is currently insufficient. The main question is, how to integrate more thoroughly the protection of this essential natural resource into education? My answer is in a precisely planned, practice oriented, age-appropriate educational material based on previously performed experiments, which experiments meant to provide the framework of the compiled teaching aid.

The choice of this study was inspired by recognition of gaps around the general knowledge and protection of soil. The poor knowledge of society today about soil protection puts the livelihoods of all life forms on Earth at risk. Loss of soil natural functions could have serious consequences in the future. Regeneration of soil as a non-renewable resource is too long to be defined on a human scale. The Food and Agriculture Organization of United Nations raised the awareness of the importance of healthy soil in connection of healthy, nutritious food production and importance of public awareness of soil protection. Therefore, it is necessary to integrate the basic theory and practice of soil protection into public consciousness, general and public education, and higher education too. Further generations will grow up without tangible knowledge and voluntarily or unintentionally destroy the essential foundation of our existence, the fertile soil. For this reason, it is important to thoroughly investigate the existing materials in the topic of soil protection in the National Core Curriculum and teaching materials. After a thorough research in the Hungarian Core Curriculum, it is clearly recognizable, that the topic of healthy soil is currently insufficient. The main question is, how to integrate more thoroughly the protection of this essential natural resource into education? My answer is in a precisely planned, practice oriented, age-appropriate educational material based on previously performed experiments, which experiments meant to provide the framework of the compiled teaching aid.