(1) Properties of Soil: Agriculture and Water Availability Impacts Laboratory Prior to beginning work on this assignment, read the Properties of Soil: Agricultural and Water Availability Impacts investigation manual . This lab enables you to analyze the natural porosity and particle size of soil samples along with the chemical composition and profile of different soil types. The Process Take the required photos and complete all parts of the lab assignment (calculations, data tables, etc.). Use the Lab Worksheet as a resource to complete the Lab Report Template . Transfer any answers and visual elements from the Lab Worksheet into the Lab Report  Template. You will submit the Lab Report Template through Waypoint in the classroom. The Assignment Make sure to complete all of the following items before submission: Before you begin the assignment, read the Properties of Soil: Agricultural and Water Availability Impacts manual ; you may also wish to review SCI207 - The Scientific Method (Links to an external site.) presentation video. Complete all activities using the materials that you supply. Photograph each activity following these instructions: When taking lab photos, you need to include in each image a strip of paper with your name and the date clearly written on it. Use the Lab Worksheet as a resource to complete the Lab Report Template. Must use at least two credible sources outside of the textbook and lab manual. Submit your completed “Lab Report” via Waypoint. (2)Sustainable Living Guide Contributions: Sustaining Our Agricultural Resources (the term selected from this assignment is - community supported agriculture) Prior to beginning work on this assignment, read Chapters 3 and 4 in your course textbook. The purpose of this assignment is twofold: first, to enable you to explore a term (concept, technique, place, etc.) related to this week’s theme of sustaining our agricultural resources; second, to provide your second contribution to a collective project, the Class Sustainable Living Guide . Your work this week, and in the weeks that follow, will be gathered (along with that of your peers) into a master document you will receive a few days after the end of the course. The document will provide everyone with a variety of ideas for how we can all live more sustainably in our homes and communities. To complete this assignment, Select a term from the list of choices in the Week 2 - Term Selection Table located in the course. Type your name in the table, next to the word that you would like to choose. Do not select a term that a classmate has already chosen; only one student per term. If you choose a term that is hyperlinked to a source, that term is one that is not mentioned in our textbook. Instead of being required to use the text as your third source for completing the assignment, you will be expected to use the hyperlinked source provided for you. Download the Week 2 Assignment Template .

1. (1) Properties of Soil: Agriculture and Water Availability
Impacts Laboratory
Prior to beginning work on this assignment, read the
Properties of Soil: Agricultural and Water Availability Impacts
investigation manual
. This lab enables you to analyze the natural porosity and
particle size of soil samples along with the chemical
composition and profile of different soil types.
The Process
Take the required photos and complete all parts of the lab
assignment (calculations, data tables, etc.). Use the
Lab Worksheet
as a resource to complete the
Lab Report Template
. Transfer any answers and visual elements from the Lab
Worksheet into the Lab Report Template. You will submit the
Lab Report Template through Waypoint in the classroom.
The Assignment
Make sure to complete all of the following items before
submission:
Before you begin the assignment, read the
Properties of Soil: Agricultural and Water Availability Impacts
manual
; you may also wish to review
SCI207 - The Scientific Method (Links to an external site.)

2. presentation video.
Complete all activities using the materials that you supply.
Photograph each activity following these instructions:
When taking lab photos, you need to include in each image a
strip of paper with your name and the date clearly written on it.
Use the Lab Worksheet as a resource to complete the Lab
Report Template.
Must use at least two credible sources outside of the textbook
and lab manual.
Submit your completed “Lab Report” via Waypoint.
(2)Sustainable Living Guide Contributions: Sustaining Our
Agricultural Resources
(the term selected from this assignment is - community
supported agriculture)
Prior to beginning work on this assignment, read Chapters 3 and
4 in your course textbook. The purpose of this assignment is
twofold: first, to enable you to explore a term (concept,
technique, place, etc.) related to this week’s theme of sustaining
our agricultural resources; second, to provide your second
contribution to a collective project, the
Class Sustainable Living Guide
. Your work this week, and in the weeks that follow, will be

3. gathered (along with that of your peers) into a master document
you will receive a few days after the end of the course. The
document will provide everyone with a variety of ideas for how
we can all live more sustainably in our homes and communities.
To complete this assignment,
Select a term from the list of choices in the
Week 2 - Term Selection Table
located in the course. Type your name in the table, next to the
word that you would like to choose.
Do not select a term that a classmate has already chosen; only
one student per term. If you choose a term that is hyperlinked to
a source, that term is one that is not mentioned in our textbook.
Instead of being required to use the text as your third source for
completing the assignment, you will be expected to use the
hyperlinked source provided for you.
Download the
Week 2 Assignment Template
available in the course and replace the guiding text with your
own words based upon your online research.
Please do not include a cover page. All references, however,
should be cited in your work and listed at the end, following
APA Style expectations.

4. In the template, you will
Define the term thoroughly, in your own words.
Explain the importance of the term using evidence.
Discuss how the term affects living things and the physical
world.
Suggest two specific actions that can be taken to promote
environmental sustainability in relation to the term.
Explain exactly how those actions will aid in safeguarding our
environment in relation to your chosen term.
Provide detailed examples to support your ideas.
The Sustainable Living Guide Contributions: Sustaining Our
Agricultural Resources paper
Must be a minimum of three paragraphs in length (not including
title, any quoted text, or references) and formatted according to
APA Style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center’s
APA Formatting for Word 2013 (Links to an external site.)
Must utilize academic voice. See the
Academic Voice (Links to an external site.)
resource for additional guidance.
Must use at least two credible and/or scholarly sources in
addition to the course text. To receive optimal credit, use at
least one scholarly source from a peer-reviewed academic
journal. To aid you in your research, and particularly in locating

5. scholarly sources via the Ashford University Library or using
Google Scholar, please review the following Ashford videos and
tutorials:
Scholarly and Popular Resources (Links to an external site.)
(Links to an external site.)
Database Search Tips
(Links to an external site.)
(Links to an external site.)
Research, Keywords, Databases: An Overview (Links to an
external site.)
Accessing full text and citation in Google Scholar:
SCI207 - Google Scholar (Links to an external site.)
Must document any information used from sources in APA Style
as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center’s
APA: Citing Within Your Paper (Links to an external site.)
Must include a separate references page that is formatted
according to APA Style as outlined in the Ashford Writing
Center. See the
APA: Formatting Your References List (Links to an external
site.)
resource in the Ashford Writing Center for specifications.
(3) Week 2: Ecological Footprint Footprint Update and Course

6. Reflection
Prior to working on this journal, read Chapters 3 and 4 in your
course textbook.
Throughout this course, you are keeping a journal about your
experience in the class. The purpose of this activity is to enable
you to reflect on your learning: what new things you have
discovered, what surprises you have encountered, what topics or
ideas you have found particularly challenging, and how the
course is going for you. Last week you began the Environmental
Footprint Reduction Project. This week you will begin using
this journal as a space for a progress report on your efforts.
Your entries will be evaluated in terms of how well they met the
topic and length requirements, and your writing clarity. Your
entries should be a minimum of one typed page each (double-
spaced, Times New Roman, 12-point font) and will be submitted
through Waypoint.
Complete the following:
In the first paragraph or two of your journal entry this week,
provide a status report on your Ecological Footprint Reduction
Project. Have you encountered success with implementing your
intended changes? What challenges have you encountered?
What have you learned so far from this activity?
In another one or two paragraphs, share your thoughts about the
second week of class. What did you learn? What experiences
stand out for you? What tasks or content did you find difficult
or frustrating? What activities did you find surprising or
exciting? Looking ahead, what are your intrigued or concerned
by in the third week of the course?

7. Required Resources
Text
Bensel, T., & Carbone, I. (2020).
Sustaining our planet
. Retrieved from https://content.ashford.edu
Chapter 3: Managing Our Population and Consumption
Chapter 4: Sustaining Our Agricultural Resources
Supplemental Material
Carolina Distance Learning. (n.d.).
Properties of soil: Agricultural and water availability impacts
[Investigation manual]. Retrieved from
https://ashford.instructure.com
The
Properties of Soil: Agricultural and Water Availability Impacts
investigation manual is available in the online classroom. This
lab manual provides background information on soil properties
and will assist you in your Properties of Soil: Agricultural and
Water Availability Impacts Laboratory assignment.
Laboratory Supplies

8. Carolina Biological Supply Lab Kit (Links to an external site.)
This lab kit provides lab supplies and materials for the hands-on
labs that you will conduct for this course. Although the lab kit
provides most of the lab supplies for the labs, there will be
materials that you need to purchase independently for a few
labs. Be sure to prepare a list of what you will need to purchase
independently by viewing the lab investigation manuals and lab
kits in advance. To see a checklist of the additional lab supplies
that you will need each week for this course, access the
Additional Lab Supplies Checklist
.
Recommended Resources
Article
FoodPrint. (n.d.).
Sustainable agriculture vs. industrial agriculture (Links to an
external site.)
. Retrieved from https://foodprint.org/issues/sustainable-
agriculture-vs-industrial-agriculture/?cid=246
This web page provides information about the basic elements of
sustainable agriculture and may assist you in your Sustainable
Living Guide Contributions: Sustaining our Agricultural
Resources Assignment.
Accessibility Statement does not exist.
Privacy Policy (Links to an external site.)

9. Multimedia
Ashford University. (2018).
SCI207 - The scientific method (Links to an external site.)
. Retrieved from
https://ashford.mediaspace.kaltura.com/media/SCI207+-
+THE+SCIENTIFIC+METHOD/1_5325onvq
This video provides information on the scientific method that
will assist you in completing your Stream Morphology
laboratory activity this week. This video has closed captioning.
Happen Films. (2017, May 21).
Organic sustainable farming is the future of agriculture | The
future of food (Links to an external site.)
[Video file]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/hWkYtZxpQUo
This video provides information about community supported
sustainable agriculture and may assist you in your Sustainable
Living Guide Contributions: Sustaining our Agricultural
Resources assignment this week. This video has closed
captioning and a transcript.
Accessibility Statement (Links to an external site.)
Privacy Policy (Links to an external site.)
Web Pages
University of California Davis, Agricultural Sustainability
Institute. (n.d.).
What is sustainable agriculture (Links to an external site.)

10. . Retrieved from
http://asi.ucdavis.edu/programs/sarep/about/what-is-sustainable-
agriculture
This web page provides information about the philosophy
behind sustainable agriculture and may assist you in your
Sustainable Living Guide Contributions: Sustaining our
Agricultural Resources assignment.
Accessibility Statement (Links to an external site.)
Privacy Policy (Links to an external site.)
Union of Concerned Scientists. (n.d.).
What is sustainable agriculture? (Links to an external site.)
Retrieved from https://www.ucsusa.org/food-
agriculture/advance-sustainable-agriculture/what-is-sustainable-
agriculture#.W1Ekbdgzqu4
This web page provides information about sustainable
agricultural practices and may assist you in your Sustainable
Living Guide Contributions: Sustaining our Agricultural
Resources assignment.
Accessibility Statement does not exist.
Privacy Policy