User:Victor2395/sandbox

Victor's Sandbox edit
= Article Evaluation[edit] =

Article Title: Earth Science or GeoScience

 * Most of the subtopics referenced in this article such as Fields of study, Earths interior, Earths atmosphere etc are relevant to the article title. Under fields of study, Glaciology among with some other fields were not expanded on for better understanding. Ecology was another field of study that needed to be better explained, because of how broad it is. I also observed that a few citations were from blogs which is not a reliable source.
 * Case studies are important to an article like this in relation to some topics such as tectonic plate movement, the pacific ring of fire and also cases where seismic examination has helped to mitigate loss of lives and property.
 * There were parts of the Article such as the earth atmosphere that could also be improved with additional information relating to the different layers of the atmosphere.

= Soil Science[edit] Assignment due February 15th  =

Key concepts of Pedology
Pedology has been defined as a study of the soil in its natural state. This is carried out by one known as a pedologist. This sub-disciplinary has been broken down into several categories namely soil morphology, soil-forming factors, soil-forming processes, soil-classification, soil geography and mapping. Pedology is known to be very descriptive and hence and important aspect of earth science.

Soil definition
To properly understand this field one must understand the soil and all its properties. Soil has several definitions of few of them being a medium for plant growth, its also known as a mantle for loose and weathered rock. A definition of the soil from a pedological standpoint is, it is an independent natural evolutionary body that is subdivided into several sub-compartments and has formed under the influence of climate, organisms, parent materials, relief and time.

Soil Horizons and soil profile
Soil horizons originally are identified as being genetic layers parallel to the earth's surface that can be identified on the basis of morphological, chemical, and physical properties. It can be also used to interpret the developmental history of the soil. A soil profile is different because it is identified as a vertical, two-dimensional section of the soil from the surface to the underlying unweathered material.

Pedon and Polypedon
A Pedon is known to be the the smallest volume of soil that is described and sampled. The horizontal area of a pedon ranges between 1 to 10 m2 depending on soil variability. Whereas, a polypedon is a collection of pedon.

Modal Profile/Geosol/Weathering and pedo-weathering profile
A modal profile is the key concept of soil attributes in a soil series. A geosol is known as a laterally traceable, mappable and geological weathering profile which has consistent stratigraphic position. This is a fundamental for pedostratigraphy. Weathering and Pedo-weathering profile is made up of a vertical section which extends downward through a zone affected by subaerial weathering including the soil profile containing the unweathered, unconsolidated or consolidated rock.

The below paragraph is a portion of the soil science article that talks about the various fields of study relating to soil science.
Soil occupies the pedosphere, one of Earth's spheres that the geosciences use to organize the Earth conceptually. This is the conceptual perspective of pedology and edaphology, the two main branches of soil science. Pedology is the study of soil in its natural setting. Edaphology is the study of soil in relation to soil-dependent uses. Both branches apply a combination of soil physics, soil chemistry, and soil biology. Due to the numerous interactions between the biosphere, atmosphere and hydrosphere that are hosted within the pedosphere, more integrated, less soil-centric concepts are also valuable. Many concepts essential to understanding soil come from individuals not identifiable strictly as soil scientists. This highlights the interdisciplinary nature of soil concepts.

[Edited Portion]
From the above portion, it can be observed that the two main branches of soil science were not explained in full detail.

Pedology [Edited]
Pedology relates to pedogenesis; which is the process of soil formation as well as the morphology and classification soil. Pedologists focus their attention to understanding how the pedogenesis process takes place. This involves careful observation of the soil profile and horizons that holds information about the lands history. These can be used to predict the negative effects that comes with land use. Some other aspects of pedology include characteristics of the soil, mapping, complexity, landscape etc.

Edaphology [Edited]
Edaphology involves the study of interaction between soils and plants as well as mankind use of the soil. Agrology also known as agricultural soil science involves the production of crop from the soil. This field is most predominant in places like Canada, Russia and China. Soil nutrients are studied in relation to soil chemistry and how it affect agriculture.

Agrology in Canada [Edited]
This is a term commonly used in Canada in place of agricultural scientist. The Agrologist study both commercial as well as native plants so as to develop crop yield. Livestock herding is another key function performed by a Agrologist. In order to become an Agrologist one must have a minimum requirement of a bachelors degree in Agriculture. Agrologist often work with scientist as a team to help with research and studies concerning the farm and livestocks. Working environments are vast ranging from office paper work to the farm( field). Agriculture brings in a lot of revenue to Canada being the 5th largest exporter of Agricultural products. an estimate of 3% of Canadians are employed as industrial farmers.

Victor's Peer-Review of two articles due March 1st
Mmacmillan's article covers biofuels. Most part of the article is formed and phrased with proper punctuations. However, there some sub headings that can be added and improved such as the effects of biofuels on climate, the effects of biofuels on the economy and also its social effects as well. Proper subheading will create organization in the work. Also expanding on several other form of biofuels would also be relevant to his article. Biofuels such as wood solid and organic waste. The sources were also reviewed and I found that only a few of them were not as reliable but most of them were. Some of these sources were peer reviewed which in my opinion is the best to use. Some of the other sources were news links and journals. Some of the policies mentioned in this article and be expanded by giving detailed interpretations and cases of implementation of these polices. In general there was a good background knowledge that was shown in this article of biofuels.

Zaighamalavi's article focused on chromite and its use as a refractory material. It also focused on porcelain tile pigmentation which was not explained in detail. The structure and grammar was good but the sources that were used were not so reliable.

Analysis/Review of articles[edit]
During the course of this semester I was able to learn alot and also add upon my existing knowledge of wikipedia. There were several things i had to understand in order to do some of the assignments that were assigned in this course. The most important being the use of this tool known as the sandbox. This enabled me and several students to develop on other article and also add contributions. This aided in the assessment of other peoples articles in order to give positive criticism for that work. Edit were also made possible in the sandbox which meant that I was able to not only critique but also correct anything in the article even down to the references used for that article.

My article of choice was soil science. My task was to critique and enhance the quality of this article by making edits to the article where necessary or make an entirely different portion which would be added to the article. I made additions to the article by expanding on key aspects such as Pedology, Edaphology and Agrology In Canada. I was able to inquire from peer reviewed relevant sources which helped me to retrieve the relevant information that was needed to improve the article. The biggest challenge I faced was finding ways to improve the article without diminishing it original content.

Another challenge faced was also finding reputable sources which will indicate that the research carried out for the article was accurate and unbiased. I also tried to find sources that were up to date which indicates that the research was done recently.

Summary of Contribution[edit]
The first edit I made was the addition of the Pedology field. I was able to summarize what this field was and how it related to soil science. Some of the information added in this section includes the definition of Pedology and its relation to Pedogenesis which is the process of soil formation. It also highlighted the key aspects and duties relating to the field such as the carful observations of soil profile made by a pedologist in order to determine land history. This field had to be expanded upon because they are important for geologist to be able to make appropriate inferences concerning the geology of the Earth. Another section added dealt with the Edaphology; the study of mans interaction with plants as well as mans use of the soil. This potion was added because I felt it was  important to include this field and major countries where the field is practised so as to give readers an idea of what this field is and what it entails. The last Section that was added was Agrology in Canada which highlighted the practice of several Agriculturalist in Canada. Some of these practices stated were rearing of livestock, the cultivation of crop as well as paper work within the office. These were section that were added to the original article that i chose to work on. The use of wikipedia when it to editing this article was simple and straight forward. The Publish button found at the upper right hand corner was used to publish my work for marking by the TA.

Peer review[edit]
There was a task assigned to peer review at least 2 articles of other students. In my analysis of these articles I focused the organization, structure, appropriate citations as flow. I was able to make a few corrections to the first article I reviewed whereas, the second article seemed to be well structured and organized as well as having good language and flow. The first article had some information which could have been worked on further. It also had few citations which I felt were not reliable hence, i gave suggestions as to which type of citations were appropriate for the task.

Feedback[edit]
My own suggestions and contributions made in my sandbox were not reviewed by any student to the best of my knowledge.

Wikipedia in general[edit]
It is a good platform for learning several skills such as writing, research, teamwork etc. It is easy to use and very accessible to the general public. However, It is not a reliable source for a research project just because it can be edited by anyone which may lead to addition of false information. There are rules that should be applied for this course in order to keep students up to date with the tasks that are assigned for wikipedia. I have never had the opportunity to ever work with wikipedia from a writers perspective but this was quite an experience for me which taught me alot.

Wikipedia is known worldwide for its contributions to the public knowledge and it is also a way to draw researchers closer in order to find more information relating to various fields and areas of study.