Soil Physics is that branch of science dealing with the measurement, prediction, and manipulation of physical properties of and processes within the soil. As physics deals with the forms and interrelationships of matter and energy, so soil physics deals with the state and movement of matter and with the fluxes and transformations of energy in the soil.
 

Objectives:

     1:  To understand basic concepts in soil physics

     2:  To apply soil physics concepts as appropriate

     3:  To recognize soil physics when it is encountered
 

Instructor: Robert (Toby) Ewing
        2596 Agronomy Hall
        515 / 294-7856
       ewing@iastate.edu
 

Prerequisites: Calculus, 2 soils courses, physics, and/or permission of the instructor
 

Required text: Environmental Soil Physics, by D. Hillel, Academic Press, 1998.
 

Evaluation: Weighting of grades for the course will be:
 

2 Semester Exams:	20% each
1 Final Exam	30%	May 6, 2003, 9:45 - 11:45
Homework	15%
Teaching	15%

For exams other than take-home exams, you are permitted a calculator and an 8.5 x 11" sheet of paper with notes (no photocopying) on one side and your name on the other. The purpose of this is to place the emphasis on understanding rather than memorizing. Exams are comprehensive.
 

For homework, you are both permitted and encouraged to work with others. Each person will turn in their own copy, and give names of those with whom they worked. I will deduct 10% per day for late assignments, timed from the end of the class at which assignments are due.
 

For the teaching component, each student will present a single 30-minute lecture to the rest of the class. Lecture topics will adhere to the course schedule, and must be chosen from those lectures which have a reading, i.e. that introduce a new chapter. It is to your advantage to sign up early: first come, first served for choice of date and topic, and topics become more complex as the semester progresses.