Soil and Soil Science Education in the Primary School Through Appearance of "흙[heuk], Soil" in the Korean Reading Textbook

Abstract

Public education on soil and soil science in Korea was reviewed through textbooks written in Korean which were used in the primary schools since 1950s. Numbers of words 흙[heuk], the Korean native word meaning soil, and 토양[土壤, toyang], originated from Chinese characters, were counted, and compared with the textbooks published in 1950s, 1970s, and 1990s, 2010s. The Korean native word “heuk” was used 20 times in 1950s, and increased to 55 times in 1970s. In 1990s version, it was decreased to 31 times and to 20 times in the 2010s version. The first appearance in the 1950s version was in the 3rd grade book, but was in the 1 st grade books in both 1990s and 2010s. In this recent version, the primary school students met this word on the poet, “Toad, Toad build a house”, and “Sprout come out through soil clod”. The word, “토양, toyang”, originated from Chinese characters, 土壤, appears only 2 times in the 6 th grade in 2010s version. Authors conclusively recommend children should learn meaning of soil at early stage of primary school easily with positive image.