Plant-Soil Practical

Course manual 2024/2025

Course content

Soils are essential for agriculture: they are the medium that plants grow in and supply the nutrients that plants require. In addition, soils have important functions in regulating and purifying water supplies, recycling waste and raw materials, modifying the composition of the atmosphere, serving as a habitat for soil organisms that initiate litter decomposition. During the course Plant-soil Interactions you will learn about soil formation, the chemical processes that take place in soils and, and the properties of soils and how these can impact the different functions and services that soils provide. You will also cover the profound impact of these processes on the yield of crops. This course aims to compliment this by introducing to practical techniques and approaches by which you can measure both soil properties and their subsequent effects on plants.

Study materials

Software

• R (R studio)

Objectives

• Formulate scientific hypothesis and design experiments to test them.
• Test hypothesis with appropriate statistical analysis in R.
• Write a scientific report with appropriate structure and language.
• Demonstrate practical skills to investigate soil and plant composition in the field and laboratory.
• Interpret information from their own experiments and measurements using the content and concepts covered in the Plant-soil interactions course.

Teaching methods

• Lecture
• Laptop seminar
• Fieldwork/excursion
• Self-study
• Working independently on e.g. a project or thesis
• Computer lab session/practical training

During the laboratory practicals and excursion you will gather data to analyse in write up in your groups. Lectures and workshops will support this process to guide you through the scientific cycle. 

Learning activities

Attendance

Programme's requirements concerning attendance (OER-B):

• Participation in fieldwork is compulsory and cannot be replaced by assignments or other courses.
• In case of practical sessions, the student is obliged to attend at least of 90% of the sessions and to prepare himself adequately, unless indicated otherwise in the course manual. In case the student attends less than 90%, the practical sessions should be redone entirely.
• In case of tutorials/seminars with assignments, the student is obliged to attend at least 7 out of 8 seminars and to prepare thoroughly for these meetings, unless indicated otherwise in the course manual. If the course has more than 8 seminars, the student can miss up to 1 extra meeting for every (part of) 8 tutorials/seminars. If the students attends less than the mandatory tutorials/seminars, the course cannot be completed.

Additional requirements for this course:

All students must attend all the laboratory practicals, as missing even one would place attendance below 90%. Attendance at the workshops is also mandatory as there are only 3. 

Assessment

Assessment diagram

Assignments

There are three graded assignments during this course, the excursion group report (which will be a presentation in the field), the experimental report and the laboratory notebook. The first two are group assignments but your lab-journal/notebook will be assessed individually. On top of these three assignments, your work attitude during the practical will be assessed on the performance of the group. Oral feedback on your work during the fieldwork excursion, work during the practical and your lab journal/notebook will be provided. Written feedback is available for handing in the introduction and discussion of the report and your R-code. These will not be graded.

Fraud and plagiarism

The 'Regulations governing fraud and plagiarism for UvA students' applies to this course. This will be monitored carefully. Upon suspicion of fraud or plagiarism the Examinations Board of the programme will be informed. For the 'Regulations governing fraud and plagiarism for UvA students' see: www.student.uva.nl

Course structure

Additional information

We vinden het belangrijk dat je je op de UvA en bij Future Planet Studies veilig voelt. Krijg je onverhoopt te maken met ongewenst gedrag of voel je je onveilig, dan kun je terecht bij verschillende personen. Je melding wordt altijd vertrouwelijk behandeld. Kijk op onze website voor meer informatie over waar en bij wie je terecht kunt.

It is important that everyone feels safe at the UvA and Future Planet Studies. We are committed to provide social safety and we offer various forms of support for people experiencing inappropriate or unsafe situations. Consult the UvA website or Future Planet Studies Canvas page for more information and contact info.

Last year's student feedback

In order to provide students some insight how we use the feedback of student evaluations to enhance the quality of education, we decided to include the table below in all course guides.

Contact information

Coordinator

• dr. W.E. Morriën

Staff

• dr. A. Clocchiatti
• dr. B. Jansen
• Patrick Meirmans
• E.A. de Nijs
• Anne Uilhoorn
• prof. dr. ir. Franciska de Vries