Soil Conservation Program Evaluation RubricThis assignment requires you to consider what c...

Soil Conservation Program Evaluation Rubric

This assignment requires you to consider what combination of factors would contribute to the greatest risk of soil erosion on US farmland. Imagine that you work for the National Resource Conservation Service (NRCS). You are in charge of the program that pays farmers not to farm land that has the potential for soil erosion. Because of recent budget cuts, the NRCS must cut the amount of farmland in the program by one-third. Your job is to complete the evaluation rubric provided here, which will allow inspectors to rate the potential for erosion on all the farms currently supported by your program. The farms that score lowest on the rubric will have the least potential for soil erosion and will be cut from the program. Note that all of these farms will experience some soil erosion; your job is to determine which will have the least erosion. You must make a decision in the next 6 months, and you do not have the time, resources, or personnel to actually measure erosion rates directly in the field.

Audience: You will create a scoring scheme that can be applied by a team of federal soil erosion inspectors who have some basic science training and several years of experience in soil conservation. It is important that all of these inspectors use a standard system to assess the potential for soil erosion. Based on the reports of these inspectors, the staff of the NRCS will make recommendations about which farms to cut from the program.

Main point and purpose: To demonstrate that you understand the principal factors that contribute to soil erosion and conservation.

Pattern and procedures: Identify six factors and differentiate among characteristics that indicate their potential for erosion (high, moderate, or low risk). One factor, vegetation, is included as an example. Each high-risk factor receives 3 points; low-risk factors rate 1 point. The site with the highest cumulative score for all factors will be at greatest risk from future soil erosion.

Standards and criteria: You will be assessed on your choice of:

1. Relevant factors that would contribute to the potential for soil erosion

2. Identification of what constitutes high-, moderate-, or low-risk situations for each factor

3. One factor in particular as the most significant. The score for this factor will be doubled. Discuss your justification for choosing this factor.