Soil & Water Conservation Merit Badge

1. Soil & Water Conservation Merit Badge

2. Tell what soil is and how it’s formed Requirement 1a -Soil is the upper layer of earth where plants grow, made of a mixture of organic remains, clay, and rock particles -produced from rocks through the processes of weathering and natural erosion -water, wind, temperature change, gravity, chemical interaction, living organisms and pressure differences all help break down parent material

3. 3 kinds of soil and how they’re different Requirement 1b -sandy soil:consists of small particles of weathered rock; it's the poorest type of soil for growing because it has low nutrients and is poor in holding water; formed by fragmentation of rocks like granite, limestone, and quartz -slit soil:it's smooth and holds water better than sand; easily transported by moving currents and is mainly found by rivers, lakes, and other water bodies -clay soil:doesn't retain water and doesn't drain well; it's sticky when wet, smooth when dried; the heaviest densest type of soil

4. 3 main plant nutrients and how they’re replenished Requirement 1c -nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium -add earthworms to soil; keep adding kitchen waste to it; add fertilizer; crop rotation

5. Define soil erosion why it's important/how it affects you Requirements 2a/2b -a natural process that occurs when soil is washed away by running water, blown away by wind, or removed by human activities -it's essential to the formation of new soil -Beaches erode when the sand lost can't keep up with the sand added through natural processes -it gets hard and compact, so it lessens the ability of soil to hold water -it contaminates bodies of water with sediment that can harm plant and animal life

6. 3 kinds of soil erosion Requirement 2c -wind erosion: damages land and natural vegetation by removing soil from one place and depositing it in another -geological erosion: consists of natural elements gradually wearing away rock formations to create soil -accelerated erosion: is most often caused by human activities; is depleted more quickly than it is created

7. Soil erosion drawings/pictures examples Requirement 2d

8. Conservation practices/erosion control practices Requirements 3a/3b -any specific action to care for natural resources so they're protected from damage and improved for certain uses 3 kinds of soil erosion control practices: -stream bank protection:protected from erosion by using plants, rocks, or structural measures -cover cropping:growing temporary crops of plants to cover the soil between seasons or between rows of a main crop to protect from erosion -wind breaks:help control soil blowing in fields, protects homes and delicate plants from winter winds. They also reduce evaporation from soil

9. Erosion control practices drawings/pictures examples Requirement 3c

10. Explain what a watershed is Requirement 4a -an area that channels rainfall to creeks, streams, and rivers, and eventually to bigger bodies of water -watersheds are important because the surface water features and stormwater runoff drain to other bodies of water

11. Outline watersheds on a contour map Requirements 4b/4c Videos to help: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bGKghgBF5Q https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajF0DsuuY4k

12. River basin/why people living in it should be concerned about land and water use in it Requirement 4d -river basin is an area of land that is drained by a river and all its large and small tributaries Why people should be concerned: -disposal of human waste/pollutants -farming run off (chemicals and fertilizers) -creek damming up

13. Explain what an aquifer is and why it’s important to communities Requirement 4e -an underground layer of water -groundwater can be extracted using a water well -bearing of permeable rock and rock fractures -have always been critically important in sustaining human habitation, agriculture, and irrigation -sand filters the water out of the pollutants and bacteria does not grow in it

14. Draw the hydrological cycle Requirement 5a

15. Demonstrate 2 actions of water Requirement 5b transpiration precipitation Capillary action evaporation

16. Explain how removal of vegetation will affect the way water runs off Requirement 5c -it collects pollutants and increases speed -increase the volume of water that goes to the stream and shortens the amount of time it takes the water to get to there -this leads to flooding, stream bank erosion, widening of streams, a loss of fish habitat, and decline in water quality

17. Tell how uses of forest, range, and farm land affect usable water Requirement 5d -it can cause water pollution by dumping chemicals into the rivers, and the ground which can get into well water -it helps slow down the run off into the watershed and prevents flooding in other areas

18. Explain how industrial use affects usable water supply Requirement 5e -it's a huge source of water pollution -thermal pollution, toxic chemicals, human waste, oils, metals, etc are deposited into the water -it can contaminate aquifers

19. Tell what is meant by water pollution Requirement 6a -it's the contamination of bodies of water -water is considered polluted when it has things like bacteria, oil, salt, toxic chemicals, decaying vegetation, or litter that makes it unfit for a specific purpose

20. Common sources of water pollution Requirement 6b -plant nutrients: when phosphorus gets to a high level algae can take over and take oxygen out of the water and deplete aquatic life -infectious agents: pathogens are the leading cause in water pollution because they cause diseases; ex: typhoid, dysentery and hepatitis -sewage and organic wastes: left untreated, it can cause a body of water to smell bad & can upset the natural balance of a river or lake -salt & minerals: ex:salt, drainage from acid mines, strip mining of coal; if sulfur is combined with water it can create strong acids; if enough of that acid gets into streams no aquatic life could survive

21. Primary water treatment Requirement 6c -mainly involves removing the solids from wastewater -main process most towns use -step 1:trap rags, sticks, and other large objects -step 2:grit chamber- stones, sand, and other heavy inorganic materials sink to the bottom and are removed -step 3:wastewater goes through a settling tank where organic matter and fine particles of material settle and are collected, then grease floats to the surface, where they get skimmed off

22. Secondary waste treatment Requirement 6c -1st- aeration, either spraying wastewater into the air or blowing air into the water -2nd-water slowly passes over stones or other material, where biological growths decompose the leftover waste -3rd-gets treated with chlorine before being released into a body of water (to soak back into the ground)

23. Biochemical oxygen demand Requirement 6c -it's a chemical and physical water treatment process -water is no longer considered wastewater

24. Draw complete waste treatment Requirement 6d