Crop Rotation class4th

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SOIL PROFILE

 Browse the following link to learn more about the soil profile

SOIL PROFILE

THE SOIL

SUMMARY of " SOIL COMPOSITION" page 74


Soil is one of the most important factors of all farming operations.

Soil is of paramount importance in all farming operation.

Soil is the basic factor in the food chain;

SOIL IS COMPOSED OF/ IS MADE OF:

• 45% parent mineral matter
• 5% organic matter (dead plants and animals, organic waste) and living organisms (worms, nematodes, bigger animals) 
• 25% water
• 25% air (gases)

WHAT ARE THE IMPORTANT TASKS IN SOIL MANAGEMENT?

It is important to establish 

• the technical preconditions for the sowing of plants 
• the removal of unwanted plants 
• to create the optimum living conditions for every living thing in the soil; the organic farmers should recreate the conditions of INTENSIVE ROOTING in the soil and for LOOSENING UP COMPRESSION.

The roots are the key element to maintain the life in the soil.

• THE ROOTS absorb nutrients from the soil but at the same time they provide continuous secretions of minute particles/ substances to the soil

• Moreover, the intensive rooting in the soil makes the soil more friable and less compact. Thanks to the root action the compression in the soil is loosened up.

Introducing the rotation of crops,  intercropping, sowing green fallow or feed mixture crops, farmers can build up a friable, living soil.

CROP ROTATION integrates the maintenance of a good, fertile soil with the needs of farmers related to both crop production and livestock breeding, according to ecological principles and repecting the environment.

Geenhouse effect (II part) class 4th

The Guardian

WHAT WILL HAPPEN?

The greenhouse effect will cause:

• an increase in Earth's temperature
• a change in weather conditions 
• the ice at the Poles will melt, 
• the sea level will rise, 
• there will be a lot of floods, 
• there will be droughts and many places will be too dry for farming
• there will be the problem of food

HOW CAN WE STOP IT?

It's important not to spread alarmism; we should send a positive message. 

People should understand that we can't stop the greenhouse effect but we can slow it down.

People should act in a way so as to respect the environment. They should adopt the right behaviours at home and outdoors, every day

At school teachers should make their students aware of the problem of pollution, discuss solutions and learn what are the correct actions that should be taken to respect the natural environment.

Governments should take decisions, find measures and enact laws to preserve the natural environment.

Pollution on Biteable.

The Greenhouse effect (I part) class 4th

Industries and wrong human habits are damaging the natural environment.

Because of pollution there are more and more gases in the atmosphere and the Earth's temperature is getting hotter and hotter.  

The effect is similar to a greenhouse, that's why it is called "the greenhouse effect".

The gasses produced by the human activities are entrapping the sun's heat: they let sun's rays pass through and reach the Earth but and let only a minimum amount of them leave.

CARBON DIOXIDE:

http://www.noaa.gov/

It's the most important greenhouse gas.
Almost 6 billion tonnes enter the atmosphere every year.
It comes either from the burning of fossil fuels like coal, gas and oil or the burning of rain forest trees.


CHLORO- FLUORO-CARBONS:

These gasses are in aerosol,sprays, refrigerators, plastic boxes and solvents.
They are very harmful both for human health and the natural environment. 
They are the cause of the depletion the ozone layer.  

Ozone depletion and the ozone hole generated worldwide concern over increased cancer risks and other negative effects. The ozone layer prevents most harmful UVB wavelengths of ultraviolet light (UV light) from passing through the Earth's atmosphere. 


METHANE:
This colorless, odorless gas has huge potential as a fuel, but it also poses a major threat to the climate.
Methane is a natural substance produced through biological routes as well as technological processes or other synthetic means.



NITROUS OXIDE:

Nitrous oxide has significant medical uses, especially in surgery and dentistry, for its anaesthetic and pain reducing effects. Its name "laughing gas" is due to the euphoric effects upon inhaling it. Recently has been found to be a major scavenger of stratospheric ozone,
It is estimated that 30% of the N2O in the atmosphere is the result of human activity, chiefly agriculture.


THE DEPLETION OF THE OZONE LAYERS

Work of Hole Ozone Layer from Tiago Amaral

Alterations in climate and weather class4th

The man's action has altered both the climate and the weather...

Since Industrial Revolution men have been producing more and more gases from cars, factories and power plants.

The atmosphere has been filled with carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide.

The gaseous blanket surrounding the atmosphere has been thickened. (Greenhouse effect)

The Earth's heat is trapped in the atmosphere, increasing the Earth's temperature.

The rapid increase in the temperature will cause dangerous alterations to the weather and the global climate:

LONG PERIODS OF DROUGHTS

Desertification

Forests will  be destroyed

Sahara will enlarge and reach Italy and Spain

The Nile delta will disappear

Water shortages

PROLONGED HEAVY PRECIPITATIONS

STORMS/TORNADOES/HURRICANES

floods

ALTERATIONS IN CLIMATE AND WEATHER CLASS 4th

IT'S UP TO US SAVE THE EARTH

• WHAT CAUSES CLIMATE CHANGES?

• WHAT ARE THE EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGES?

• DO YOU AGREE THAT PEOPLE SHOULD CHANGE THEIR LIVING HABITS TO SLOW DOWN POLLUTION AND SAVE THE EARTH PLANET?

• WHAT KIND OF CHANGES DO YOU THINK WE COULD BEGIN DOING IN OUR EVERYDAY LIFE? HOW COULD PEOPLE CHANGE THEIR BEHAVIOURS

• WHAT ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT COUNTRIES DOING, TO SAVE THE EARTH PLANET? 

• DO YOU THINK THAT IT IS ENOUGH OR DO YOU BELIEVE THAT WE CAN DO MORE?

Elisabeth I and Shakespeare class 4th

Hurricane Irma

ACTIVITIES FROM: http://www.breakingnewsenglish.com


LISTEN TO THE  PODCAST


HURRICANES DISCUSSION

1. What did you think when you read the headline?

2. What images are in your mind when you hear the word 'hurricane'?

3. What do you think of hurricanes?

4. How can people prepare for a hurricane?

5. What do you think it's like to experience a massive hurricane?

6. How can people recover from the devastation of a hurricane?

7. Would you evacuate if you knew a hurricane was coming?

8. Should there be a world hurricane recovery fund?

9. What are the differences between hurricanes, typhoons and cyclones?

10. How do hurricanes form?

11. Did you like reading this article? Why/not?

12. What do you think of when you hear the word 'islands'?

13. What do you think about what you read?

14. What do you know about the Caribbean?

15. Why don't governments prepare better for hurricanes?

16. What would 300kph winds do to a town?

17. What do meteorologists do every day?

18. What part does global warming playing play with hurricanes?

19. What happens during a storm surge?

20. What questions would you like to ask a meteorologist?

TO LEAR MORE ABOUT : https://www.wired.com/story/hurricane-irma-a-practically-impossible-storm/

Let's learn....

Back to school_class 4th

CROP ROTATIONS class 4th

Let's begin watching this video

Who is the most far-sighted of the two farmers? 
Laura, of course!
So, now it is clear why growing different crops over long periods is so important. If you want to maintain the soil health you must rely on crop rotation.

The following information is taken  from: https://www.britannica.com

Crop Rotation systems

It's the sequence of crops grown over a period of time on a given area of soil. It can be defined as the cropping system. It may be a pattern of regular rotation of different crops or one of growing only one crop year after year on the same area.

The advantages of crop rotations 

Such a system generally 

1. maintains productivity, 
2. aids in keeping soil structure favourable, 
3. and tends to reduce erosion. 
4. Alfalfa, sweet clover, red clover, and Ladino clover are considered effective for building up nitrogen. 
5. Legumes leave nitrogen in the soil.

Getting deeper it can be said that the AGRONOMIC BENEFITS of using crop rotation in agriculture are:

• the soil is enriched with nutritional substances and nitrogen.
• the soil structure is improved and preserved, reducing soil erosion
• the cycles of pests and diseases are interrupted. Thanks to crop rotation, the dangerous consequences of weeds, insects and pests are played down.

Moreover, crop rotation has the great environmental benefit of reducing soil erosion. Many areas are preserved from landslides, floods, mud slidings.

In the past, the Two-field system was the basis of the agricultural organization in Europe and the Middle East in early times. Arable land was divided into two fields or groups of fields; one group was planted to wheat, barley, or rye, while the other was allowed to lie fallow until the next planting season to recover its fertility. After cropping the first group of fields was turned to fallow, with the livestock permitted to graze on the stubble and enrich the soil with their droppings. Beginning about the 8th century, between the Loire and the Rhine rivers, the two-field system gave way to the more sophisticated three-field system.

Three-field system is a method of agricultural organization introduced in Europe in the Middle Ages and representing a decisive advance in production techniques. In the old two-field system half the land was sown to crop and half left fallow each season; in the three-field system, however, only a third of the land lay fallow. In the autumn one third was planted to wheat, barley, or rye, and in the spring another third of the land was planted to oats, barley, and legumes to be harvested in late summer. The legumes (peas and beans) strengthened the soil by their nitrogen-fixing ability and at the same time improved the human diet.