Challenge Accepted?

Students can help conserve natural resources locally and protect local ecosystems by addressing current and historical problems associated with the erosion of topsoil that limits the ability to grow food. After thoughtful research to evaluate how these challenges exist globally and locally, students will design, test, and demonstrate a solution that reduces topsoil erosion for their unique location or situation to help conserve productive soil. The final product will be a model that demonstrates a measurable reduction in soil erosion.

Identify a Problem

According to the United States Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resource and Conservation Service, soil erosion “will remain an important global issue for the 21st century because of its adverse impact on agronomic productivity, the environment, and its effect on food security and the quality of life.” It is estimated that only 11% of our Earth’s land surface has the topsoil considered suitable for producing food. In the United States, we are losing at least 3 billion tons of topsoil a year to erosion! Without topsoil, our land becomes a desert and is not capable of producing food. What can we do to start solving this global problem? To address the necessity of food production, we need to start at the soil level.

Response to Problem

With the challenge of losing over 3 billion tons of fertile topsoil each year, your team has been selected to design a prototype and construct a system that will reduce topsoil erosion.

This system must address the following needs:

• Address local erosion concerns.
• Reduce topsoil erosion.

Success will be determined by:

• Design, create, and test a topsoil erosion simulation model that demonstrates a measurable reduction of topsoil erosion.
• Produce a presentation that shows the topsoil reduction model in use and communicates results.