(1) Properties of Soil: Agriculture and Water Availability Impacts Laboratory

Prior to beginning work on this assignment, read the Properties of Soil: Agricultural and Water Availability Impacts investigation manual. This lab enables you to analyze the natural porosity and particle size of soil samples along with the chemical composition and profile of different soil types.

The Process

Take the required photos and complete all parts of the lab assignment (calculations, data tables, etc.). Use the Lab Worksheet as a resource to complete the Lab Report Template. Transfer any answers and visual elements from the Lab Worksheet into the Lab Report  Template. You will submit the Lab Report Template through Waypoint in the classroom.

The Assignment

Make sure to complete all of the following items before submission:

• Before you begin the assignment, read the Properties of Soil: Agricultural and Water Availability Impacts manual; you may also wish to review SCI207 – The Scientific Method (Links to an external site.) presentation video.
• Complete all activities using the materials that you supply. Photograph each activity following these instructions:
  • When taking lab photos, you need to include in each image a strip of paper with your name and the date clearly written on it.
• Use the Lab Worksheet as a resource to complete the Lab Report Template.
• Must use at least two credible sources outside of the textbook and lab manual.
• Submit your completed “Lab Report” via Waypoint.

(2)Sustainable Living Guide Contributions: Sustaining Our Agricultural Resources

(the term selected from this assignment is – community supported agriculture)

Prior to beginning work on this assignment, read Chapters 3 and 4 in your course textbook. The purpose of this assignment is twofold: first, to enable you to explore a term (concept, technique, place, etc.) related to this week’s theme of sustaining our agricultural resources; second, to provide your second contribution to a collective project, the Class Sustainable Living Guide. Your work this week, and in the weeks that follow, will be gathered (along with that of your peers) into a master document you will receive a few days after the end of the course. The document will provide everyone with a variety of ideas for how we can all live more sustainably in our homes and communities.

To complete this assignment,

• Select a term from the list of choices in the Week 2 – Term Selection Table located in the course. Type your name in the table, next to the word that you would like to choose.
  • Do not select a term that a classmate has already chosen; only one student per term. If you choose a term that is hyperlinked to a source, that term is one that is not mentioned in our textbook. Instead of being required to use the text as your third source for completing the assignment, you will be expected to use the hyperlinked source provided for you.
• Download the Week 2 Assignment Template available in the course and replace the guiding text with your own words based upon your online research.
  • Please do not include a cover page. All references, however, should be cited in your work and listed at the end, following APA Style expectations.

In the template, you will

• Define the term thoroughly, in your own words.
• Explain the importance of the term using evidence.
• Discuss how the term affects living things and the physical world.
• Suggest two specific actions that can be taken to promote environmental sustainability in relation to the term.
• Explain exactly how those actions will aid in safeguarding our environment in relation to your chosen term.
• Provide detailed examples to support your ideas.

The Sustainable Living Guide Contributions: Sustaining Our Agricultural Resources paper

• Must be a minimum of three paragraphs in length (not including title, any quoted text, or references) and formatted according to APA Style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center’s APA Formatting for Word 2013 (Links to an external site.)
• Must utilize academic voice. See the Academic Voice (Links to an external site.) resource for additional guidance.
• Must use at least two credible and/or scholarly sources in addition to the course text. To receive optimal credit, use at least one scholarly source from a peer-reviewed academic journal. To aid you in your research, and particularly in locating scholarly sources via the Ashford University Library or using Google Scholar, please review the following Ashford videos and tutorials:
• Must document any information used from sources in APA Style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center’s APA: Citing Within Your Paper (Links to an external site.)
• Must include a separate references page that is formatted according to APA Style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center. See the APA: Formatting Your References List (Links to an external site.) resource in the Ashford Writing Center for specifications.

(3) Week 2: Ecological Footprint Footprint Update and Course Reflection

Prior to working on this journal, read Chapters 3 and 4 in your course textbook.

Throughout this course, you are keeping a journal about your experience in the class. The purpose of this activity is to enable you to reflect on your learning: what new things you have discovered, what surprises you have encountered, what topics or ideas you have found particularly challenging, and how the course is going for you. Last week you began the Environmental Footprint Reduction Project. This week you will begin using this journal as a space for a progress report on your efforts. Your entries will be evaluated in terms of how well they met the topic and length requirements, and your writing clarity. Your entries should be a minimum of one typed page each (double-spaced, Times New Roman, 12-point font) and will be submitted through Waypoint.

Complete the following:

• In the first paragraph or two of your journal entry this week, provide a status report on your Ecological Footprint Reduction Project. Have you encountered success with implementing your intended changes? What challenges have you encountered? What have you learned so far from this activity?
• In another one or two paragraphs, share your thoughts about the second week of class. What did you learn? What experiences stand out for you? What tasks or content did you find difficult or frustrating? What activities did you find surprising or exciting? Looking ahead, what are your intrigued or concerned by in the third week of the course?

Required Resources

Text

Bensel, T., & Carbone, I. (2020). Sustaining our planet. Retrieved from https://content.ashford.edu

• Chapter 3: Managing Our Population and Consumption
• Chapter 4: Sustaining Our Agricultural Resources

Supplemental Material

Carolina Distance Learning. (n.d.). Properties of soil: Agricultural and water availability impacts [Investigation manual]. Retrieved from https://ashford.instructure.com

• The Properties of Soil: Agricultural and Water Availability Impacts investigation manual is available in the online classroom. This lab manual provides background information on soil properties and will assist you in your Properties of Soil: Agricultural and Water Availability Impacts Laboratory assignment.

Laboratory Supplies

Carolina Biological Supply Lab Kit  (Links to an external site.)

• This lab kit provides lab supplies and materials for the hands-on labs that you will conduct for this course. Although the lab kit provides most of the lab supplies for the labs, there will be materials that you need to purchase independently for a few labs. Be sure to prepare a list of what you will need to purchase independently by viewing the lab investigation manuals and lab kits in advance. To see a checklist of the additional lab supplies that you will need each week for this course, access the Additional Lab Supplies Checklist.

Recommended Resources

Article

FoodPrint. (n.d.). Sustainable agriculture vs. industrial agriculture (Links to an external site.). Retrieved from https://foodprint.org/issues/sustainable-agriculture-vs-industrial-agriculture/?cid=246

• This web page provides information about the basic elements of sustainable agriculture and may assist you in your Sustainable Living Guide Contributions: Sustaining our Agricultural Resources Assignment.
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Multimedia

Ashford University. (2018). SCI207 – The scientific method (Links to an external site.). Retrieved from https://ashford.mediaspace.kaltura.com/media/SCI207+-+THE+SCIENTIFIC+METHOD/1_5325onvq

• This video provides information on the scientific method that will assist you in completing your Stream Morphology laboratory activity this week. This video has closed captioning.

Happen Films. (2017, May 21). Organic sustainable farming is the future of agriculture | The future of food (Links to an external site.) [Video file]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/hWkYtZxpQUo

Web Pages

University of California Davis, Agricultural Sustainability Institute. (n.d.). What is sustainable agriculture (Links to an external site.). Retrieved from http://asi.ucdavis.edu/programs/sarep/about/what-is-sustainable-agriculture

Union of Concerned Scientists. (n.d.). What is sustainable agriculture? (Links to an external site.) Retrieved from https://www.ucsusa.org/food-agriculture/advance-sustainable-agriculture/what-is-sustainable-agriculture#.W1Ekbdgzqu4

• This web page provides information about sustainable agricultural practices and may assist you in your Sustainable Living Guide Contributions: Sustaining our Agricultural Resources assignment.
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