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published in 1974
Soil surveys are available from your county's Soil and Water Conservation District. Every county in Indiana has had a soil survey completed that contains valuable information that applies to making landuse decisions with farmland, woodland, and land for development in selecting sites for ponds, roads, buildings, and other structures. Soil surveys can help a home buyer or developer determine soil related hazards or limitations that affect homesites and the suitability of soils for pipelines, landfills, recreation areas, and many other uses.
Many people assume that soils are alike. There are great differences in soil properties that can within even a few feet apart. Soils may be seasonally wet, subject to flooding or even shallow to bedrock. Some soil types may be too unstable to be used for a building or road foundation. Clayey or wet soils are poorly suited for septic tank absorption fields. Also a high water table soil is not suitable for basements or underground installations.
Soil properties and valueable information that affect land use decisions can be found in soil surveys. Each soil survey describes the properties and limitation of the soils found in the county. The soil survey maps shows the approximate location of each soil type. Soil surveys can help in identifying specific conservation problems to plan conservation measures that will reduce erosion, sedimentation, wetness, and over come that soil type limitations.
Soil surveys are an important part of making land use and water resource decisions.
TEACHING WITH SOIL SURVEYS
The soil survey is particularily valuable in outdoor classrooms. Many outdoor programs make good use of ponds, woodlots, trails, agricultural plots etc. What makes a soil survey so useful is that it has information on local climate, geology, pond building, wildlife habitat, tree species and much more, all in one handy booklet.
For example, suppose the school wants to build an addition onto the existing structure. By using the information in the soil survey, the students can conduct their own site evaluation. They can check the ability of the soil to shrink or swell under the proposed structure, whether or not a septic system would work, where the increased water will drain to or what the land use was before development. Students will feel a sense of working on real world issues and get some hands on experience. Just building an outdoor lab using a soil survey can be a valuable learning experience. Lesson plans can be devised for any grade level.
To use a soil survey for your outdoor lab or environmental class,just obtain a copy from your county Soil and Water Conservation District. There maybe a soil survey in your schools library.
A soil survey has great educational potential and it is easy to use and acquire for any school.
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