1. Soil Vocabulary

2. Soil! A natural resource found in our own backyard!!
Soil is the loose material in which plants can grow in the upper layer of Earth. It is made up of rock, humus, air, and water.
Soil is made up of 5 important components and has 3 layers!

3. The 5 Components of Soil Humus Sand Silt Clay Rock
Read all of them first then let student echo read!

4. Humus
This is decayed (rotten, rotting) plant and animal matter in the soil. It provides nutrients to the soil.
Explain to students that decayed is just a fancy word for “ dead”. Allow students to answer questions within groups then let them share their answers with the class. k

5. Sand Sand is made up of small grains of weathered rock.
DOES NOT hold water well!
Few nutrients
Ask students why sand doesn’t hold water well and see if they understand the concept of it. Ask students if they know what weathered means. Does it mean weather like rain, snow, hot , cold?

6. Made up of very small pieces of broken rock. Sand > Silt > Clay

7. Clay
Can be red or yellow!
Holds water well!
Contains nutrients!
Back

8. 3 Layers of Soil!
Topsoil
Subsoil
Bedrock
Echo reading

9. Topsoil This is the top layer.
It is where animals live and plants grow.
It is a mixture of humus and rock fragments.
It is the best layer for growing plants!
Back

10. Not as good for growing plants
Subsoil
Made up mostly of clay
Under the topsoil
Not as good for growing plants

11. Bedrock
This is the third and bottom layer of soil. It is under the subsoil. It is made up of weathered rock and solid rock. The worst part of soil for plant growth.

12. Nutrients
These are the materials that plants and animals need to grow. Do you remember where they can be found in soil? What layer? Which components?
Call on volunteers for answers

13. Weathering (breaks down)
When rocks and other materials on the Earth’s surface are broken down into smaller pieces by weather, water, and living things.
Beach in Corolla, N.C

14. Weathering of the rocks and stumps in Corolla, N.C.

15. Erosion (moves it)
This is a force that gradually wears away soil and its nutrients. Can be caused by natural elements such as wind, water, and ice. This is because of the flow due to gravity.
*Check out this experiment on erosion.
Beach in Corolla, N.C

16. Some more pictures of Erosion!
Beach in Corolla, N.C.

17. Beach in Corolla, N.C.