Science Soils Review Standard 2c.

1. Rosa wants to investigate three different types of soil for their ability to retain water. She comes up with two different plans.

Which is the BEST plan to investigate the three types of soil for their ability to retain water?

• Plan 1 because you can measure the specific amount of water the soil retained.

• Plan 2 because you can look at the soil and see how much water is in it.

• Plan 1 because you do not need to use colored water.

• Plan 2 because it used colored water.

Tags

NGSS.MS-ETS1-1

NGSS.MS-ETS1-2

NGSS.MS-ETS1-3

Mary wants to investigate to determine three different soils’ textures based on their particle size. She says “I only need to use a hand lens to look at them. Then I will write down what I see.

This will tell me all I need to know about their texture based on their particle size.” Is Janelle

correct in her thinking?

• Yes, because a hand lens helps you see particle size and then you will know about the soils’

  texture

• No, because in order to determine texture, you also need to know what the soils feel like.

• Yes, because to see texture you just need to look at the soil closely.

• No, because you do not need to use a hand lens to determine texture

If a student wanted to tell if a soil is mostly sand, what could they do to identify the soil and why?

• They could feel the texture because sand is slippery when wet.

• They could add water because it will pass through sand easily.

• They could add water because sand holds the most water.

• They could look at the particle size because sand has the smallest particles.

Sonia wants to find the best soil for planting pumpkin seeds. She has a choice of three different types of soil. She knows that the pumpkin seeds need water, but too much or too little water will not be best for the seeds.

Using the information in the table above, which soil should Shania’s use to plant her pumpkin

seeds?

• Loam would be the best soil because it retained more water and allowed the most water to be filtered through.

• Sand would be the best soil for the pumpkin seeds because it retained less water than clay.

• Loam would be the best soil because it retained less water than clay but more water than sand.

• Sand would be the best soil for the pumpkin seeds because it allowed the most water to be filtered through.

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS1-5

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A student wanted to find out what type of soil could grow lima beans the best. What would be

the best investigation to carry out?

• Plant three lima beans in a mixture of all of the soils and measure the growth of the plants.

• Plant a lima bean in each type of soil and measure the growth of the plants.

• Add water to each soil and plant the lima beans in the one that holds the most water.

• Add lima beans to sand and measure the growth of plants.

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS1-5

NGSS.MS-LS2-1

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Alexandria has three different samples of soil. She knows one is clay, one is sand, and one is gravel, but she can’t remember which is which. What is one way she can determine which soil is which and why?

• She can add water to the three soils. Sand and clay will absorb the same amount of water. Then you will know which is which by its color. Gravel will absorb the least amount of water.

• She can observe the texture of the three soils. Gravel feels smooth when wet, sand feels rough and rocky, and clay feels gritty when rubbed.

• She can use a color system to observe the three soils. Clay is usually black, gravel is a combination of white and blues, and sand is usually a red/yellow color.

• She can use a hand lens to observe the particles of the three soils. Clay has the smallest particles, gravel has the largest particles, and sand’s particles are in between.

What is sand made of?

• A. tiny pieces of soil 
• B. tiny pieces of dirt 
• C. tiny pieces of rock 
• D. tiny pieces of silt

Part of the soil made up of dead plants and animals is called......

• sand
• silt
• loam
• humus

Use the information and table to answer the following question.

A student wants to investigate three different types of soil for their ability to retain water. The student comes up with two different plans.

Which is the BEST plan to investigate the three types of soil for their ability to retain water?

• Plan 2, because you can look at the soil and see how much water is in it

• Plan 1, because you can measure the specific amount of water the soil retained

• Plan 1, because you do not need to use colored water

• Plan 2, because it used colored water

Tags

NGSS.MS-ETS1-1

NGSS.MS-ETS1-2

NGSS.MS-ETS1-3

Based on the image, which soil retained more water?

• Clay/Arcilla

• Sand/Arena

• Top soil/Marga

• Gravel/grava