2.  Different types of soil  Soil is made of four parts:  1) Sand  2) Silt  3)Clay  4)Humus

3.  Sand, Silt and Clay are inorganic.  Sand is the largest particle in the soil. When you rub it, it feels rough. This is because it has sharp edges.

4.  Sand doesn’t hold many nutrients. Sand is good for drainage.

5.  Silt is a soil particle whose size is between sand and clay.  Silt feels smooth and powdery. When wet it feels smooth but not sticky.

6.  Clay is the smallest of the particles. Clay is smooth when dry and stick when wet.  Soils high in clay content are called heavy soils.

7.  Here is some red clay when its wet.

8.  Here is some clay we use to make pots.

9.  Clay can also hold lots of nutrients, but doesn’t let air and water through it well.  Nutrients are food for living things.

10.  What is this? Clay

11.  What is this? Silt

12.  What is this? Sand

13.  If a particle of sand was the size of a basketball Sand

14.  Then silt would be the size of a baseball. Silt

15.  And clay would be the size of a golf ball. Clay

16.  Which is the biggest?

17.  So which is the biggest?

18.  Humus is organic matter. Organic means natural and made from living things.  It is made of decayed or dead plants and animals. Humus contains the most nutrients.

19.  Soil is classified by the amount of sand, silt, clay, and humus it contains.  This is sandy soil.

20.  Sandy soil has the largest pieces. It also has a lot of air spaces between the pieces.

21.  Sandy soils have good drainages but they do not hold water and nutrients well.

22.  This is clay soil.

23.  Clay soil is heavy. It has few spaces between the pieces so drainage is not good. It holds nutrients well but doesn’t allow water and air to pass through.

24.  This is Loam soil.

25.  Loam soil has a lot of organic matter. It has a good mixture of sand, silt, clay and humus. It has good drainage and plenty of nutrients.

26.  So which soil is the best for growing plants?  A. Sandy Soil  B. Clay Soil  C. Loam Soil

27.  Plants need air, water, and nutrients from soil. Loam has all of these things so it is the best for growing plants.

28.  Some plants use humus for nutrients. Small animals eat the plants and bigger animals eat the small animals.  Humus is an important part of the food chain.

29.  Homework: complete the handout with a partner. Fill in the blanks using page 27, 28 and 29