Soil and Water Cycle Review Mrs. DeLaura’s 3rd Grade Class

The carrying of weathered pieces of rock by wind, water, and gravity is called _____.

erosion

The breaking down of rock into smaller pieces, such as sand, silt, or clay is called ______.

weathering

Land surfaces that are not covered with plants are more likely to _______.

lose soil through erosion

Soil is created by a process of ____.

weathering

Materials that plants need to live and grow are ___________.

nutrients

Soil helps plants to grow by providing ____ and _____.

support and nutrients

The components of soil are ___________.

rock, clay, silt, sand, and humus

The upper surface layer of soil is called ______.

topsoil

The layer of rock underneath the topsoil is called ____.

subsoil

The layer of soil that has the most nutrients for plants is the _____.

topsoil

The plant nutrients in soil come from _____.

humus

The solid layer of rock beneath the subsoil and loose rocks is called _____.

bedrock

There is a layer of loose rocks between the ______ and ______.

topsoil and subsoil

The pieces of decayed plants and animals in soil are called _____.

humus

The top layers of soil are produced when bedrock _______.

breaks into smaller pieces

The process of producing soil takes many ______.

years

Tiny particles of soil the are tightly packed, hold water well and provide some nutrients are called _____.

clay

Small grains of worn down rock that have few nutrients and do not hold water well are ______.

sand

Soil particles that are larger than clay, but smaller than sand are _____.

silt

The energy source that drives the water cycle is the ____.

sun

The three processes that are involved in the water cycle are ___, ___, and ___.

Evaporation, condensation, and precipitation

Ponds, lakes, streams, oceans, and underground are all places where _____.

water is stored

The movement of water from the ground to the air and then back to the ground is called ____.

The water cycle

The process by which liquid water is turned to water vapor is called ____.

evaporation

The process in the water cycle by which water vapor is changed back into liquid water is called ____.

condensation

The collecting of water in streams, lakes, and oceans is called _____.

accumulation

In order for water to evaporate it must be ____.

heated

In order for condensation to occur, water vapor must be ____.

cooled

Water that falls from the sky is called ____.

precipitation

The forms of precipitation are ___, ___, ___, and ___.

rain, sleet, hail, and snow

Runoff from over-fertilized lawns and fields, oil from parking lots, soil erosion and animal waste are all forms of _____.

Water pollution