Basics of Soil Science

Classroom Component: Online and on demand

***Approved for 4.0 SEO continuing education credits through the Pennsylvania DEP ***

Learning about soil science can feel a bit intimidating with all the information out there. Like anything new, the easiest way to proceed is one step at a time. In this four hour self-directed course we’ll walk you through the foundations of soil knowledge. We’ll provide some short quizzes to help you gauge if you’re ready to move on to the next topic. In this course we discuss:

• Soil parent materials

• Soil formation

• Soil texture and using the textural triangle

• The types of soil structure and how structure impacts other soil properties

• The basics of soil color and how to use a color book

• Redoximorphic features and the processes that form them

• Understanding some of the basics of soil classification and taxonomy and how they relate to the soil survey

• Understanding saturated versus unsaturated flow in soils

• Soil pH and basic soil chemistry principles