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Soil Erosion: Getting Washed Away in Indiana How Bad Could it be?
Grades 9-12
Orvil L. White
Indiana University School of Education

Rationale:
We are losing our valuable lands to the agents of erosion.  The agents of soil erosion are water and wind, each contributing to a significant amount of soil loss each year.  Soil erosion is a major environmental threat to the sustainability and productive capacity of agriculture. Soil erosion is a naturally occurring process on all land of the world. Soil erosion is one form of soil degradation along with soil compaction, low organic matter, loss of soil structure, poor internal drainage, salinisation, and soil acidity problems. These other forms of soil degradation, which are serious by themselves, usually contribute to and accelerated soil erosion.  Soil erosion is a very widespread phenomenon, and is usually irreversible. Once the nutrient-rich surface soil has been lost the ability to sustain plant growth is severely reduced and increased runoff from the more impermeable subsoil results in a decrease in plant-available water
Erosion may be a slow process that continues relatively unnoticed, or it may occur at an alarming rate causing serious loss of topsoil. The loss of soil from farmland may be reflected in reduced crop production potential, lower surface water quality and damaged drainage networks.   One of the most widespread threats to soil quality is wind and water erosion, an ever-occurring process that impacts our lives in numerous ways, the lost of food production has the most direct impact.