1.Objectives and Contents
This course is 3 hours, 3 credits, English selection course only for foreign graduate student at 2:20pm to 5:20 pm in Thursday. The all contents of this course include four parts. The first part is how to describe the soil morphological characteristics and the definition and characteristics of diagnostic horizons. The 2nd part is the development, basic concepts, and research methods of theories of pedogenic processes, soil weathering and clay minerals, and models of soil genesis. The 3rd part is soil classification system of the world, including USA, Canada, UK, France, Germany, China, Taiwan, and United Nations, especially on Soil Taxonomy, and World Reference Base System (WRB). The 4th part is new methods or technologies of soil survey and the production and uses of soil maps. The fifth part is to organize a field trip to see the soil characteristics of volcanic soils and red soils in one day in the north part of Taiwan, and to do an exercise of CD-ROM to learn the soil of major soil groups of the world.

2. Textbooks
1. Buol, S.W., F.D. Hole, R. J. McCracken, and R.J. Southard. 1997. Soil genesis and classification. 4th edition. Iowa State Univ. Press, Ames, Iowa, USA.
2. Soil Survey Staff. 2003. Keys to Soil Taxonomy. 9th Edition, USDA. 327p.
3. ISSS Working Group RB. 1998. World Reference Bases for Soil Resources: Introduction. J. A. Deckers, F. O. Nachtergaele, and O. C. Spaargaren (eds.). First edition. International Society of Soil Science (ISSS), International Soil Reference and Information Centre (ISRIC), and Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Acco. Leuven. 165p
4.D.S. Fanning, and M.C.B. Fanning. 1989. Soil morphology, genesis, and classification. John Wiley & Sons Publisher, Singapore.
5. USDA. 1993. Soil survey manual. USDA Handbook No. 18, 437pages.

3. Calculation of score
Final score are sum of final examination (30%), field exercise (30%) and term paper (40%).