Soil Review

What is soil?

• Molten rock found deep within Earth

• A mixture of minerals, water, air and organic matter

• An organism that lives underground

• A type of rock

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS1-5

NGSS.MS-LS2-3

Why is soil important to living things?

• Plants live in soil – they anchor themselves in soil

• Soil helps cycle nutrients and substances in the environment

• Soil helps filter and clean water that permeates (seep into) the ground

• All of the above

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS1-5

NGSS.MS-LS2-1

NGSS.MS-LS2-3

Which of the following is NOT a nonliving component of soil?

• sediments

• water

• organic matter

• magma

What kind of organisms are most important to the formation of soil?

• plants

• mammals

• decomposers

• humans

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS2-1

What is parent material?

• The living things that decompose to become organic matter

• Solid rock that breaks down to become the sediment found in soil

• Living things that help make soil

• Sediment that compacts together to become rock found in soil

What characteristic of soil is most important in studying soil?

• Density

• Color

• Texture

• Consistency

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS2-2

Which soil texture is made of large particles and feels gritty or rough?

• sand

• silt

• clay

Which type of soil holds onto nutrients so tightly that plants cannot extract water or nutrients from it?

• sandy soil

• clay soil

• silty soil

• loamy soil

What do we call the decomposed organic matter that forms the very top of the layer?

• organic waste

• humus

• bedrock

• parent rock

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS2-1

NGSS.MS-LS2-3

Another name for soil layers is

• sunsets

• horizons

• humus

• rhizomes