Rusty soils cover about 15% of Poland's territory and they are the most important type of soil used in the forest management. Polish soil scientists know these soils very well but, unfortunately it seems, that students who come to environmental studies know very little about them-less than about other soil units. Does electing rusty soil as the Polish Soil of the Year 2021 present an opportunity to change that? The aim of this paper is to diagnose what is the availability of information on rusty soils at the level of education in secondary schools and what is the state of knowledge about these soils in the broad non-academic community. Three main research methods were used: querying geography textbooks, querying internet sources and survey method. Information on rusty soils is rather not presented in textbooks. Of the 17 analysed websites -8 lack any information on those soils. Coeffi cient of Information Availability (CIA) for rusty soils is one of two lowest among all studied units. Respondents assessed the knowledge of rusty soils lower than most of other Polish soils but they would like to learn more about them. Additionally, the low level of knowledge about it does not reduce its recognition: respondents had no problem to recognize rusty soil on the base of photograph and to distinguish the correct number of genetic horizons. The Year of Rusty Soil is a great opportunity to introduce young people to these soils. Field lessons can combine soil education with ecological issues. Rusty soils can be seen as optimal choice for these activities. These soils could be an perfect type to increase public awareness of soils at all but especially with regard to common soils important to our local environment.

The paper presents the research on how the effectiveness of removing organic substances is affected by the use of polyurethane foam fillings characterized by a varied porosity and the temperature of the process of treating landfill leachate in a biological sequencing batch reactor. The information on the conversion of organic compounds during the operation of the reactor was obtained by measuring the absorbance for selected wavelengths to describe the process of humification. It was found that the technological conditions used in the experiment affected the effectiveness of reducing the COD, but did not affect the type or amount of the humic substances in the leachate treated. In all of the variants examined, the COD decreased the as the humification level increased, and yet this relation was not linear in character.

Alluvial soils cover about 5% territory of Poland and they are an important part of the environment of fl oodplains and river valleys. These soils have long been studied by soil scientists around the world. The high school students also have a relatively high knowledge of them in comparison with other soil types. Information about them is readily available in textbooks and on the internet. Is this enough to make alluvial soils the driving force behind efforts to popularize soil science? The aim of this paper is to diagnose the state of knowledge about these soils among high school students of Kuyavian-Pomeranian region as well as the assessment of their suitability in the soil awareness raising. Querying geography textbooks and internet sources as well as a survey method were used as the main research methods. Information on alluvial soils is commonly found in geography textbooks and websites. The awareness of soil distribution within Kuyavian-Pomeranian voivodship is the highest for alluvial soils among all studied types of soils. Respondents correctly assess the value of these soils and can identify ways to increase soil awareness among the public. Among the respondents there is a conviction that there is a need for changes in soil science education, especially in the fi eld of extracurricular activities. Suggestions for such activities are included in this publication. The Year of Alluvial Soils is a good opportunity to introduce new solutions in the popularization of soil science on a regional and national scale.