Soil review

Which soil held the most water?

• gravel

• topsoil

• sand

• clay

Leah 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

• 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-ESS2-4

NGSS.MS-LS2-3

The pictures show two samples of soil.

Which sample can hold more water? Why?

• Sample X because it has less texture

• Sample Y because it has more texture

• Sample X because it has larger particles

• Sample Y because it has smaller particles

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS2-4

Janelle 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

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

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

• 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 add water because it will pass through sand easily.

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

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

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

Tags

NGSS.MS-PS1-2

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?

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

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

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS1-5

NGSS.MS-LS2-1

NGSS.MS-LS2-4

A student created a hypothesis that cotton will grow larger bolls if magnesium is added to the soil. The student has two experimental fields of cotton: one grown with magnesium and one without. Which data should be collected to support this hypothesis?

• the color of the cotton bolls in both fields

• the softness of the cotton bolls in both fields

• the shape of the cotton bolls in both fields

• the size of the cotton bolls in both fields

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS1-5

NGSS.MS-LS2-1

Kendall 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 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.

• 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.

Lily's family went to the beach over the summer. While there, Lily noticed that the rocks closer to the water’s edge were smooth, and the rocks farther away from the water were rough and jagged. What MOST likely caused the rocks closer to the water to be smooth?

• waves crashing down on the rocks

• people walking over the rocks to get to the water

• fish swimming over the rocks

• birds pecking at the rocks

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS2-2

Select three of the properties that can most likely be learned from knowing the color of soil.

• the amount of nutrients it has

• the type of climate it came from

• how many plants it can support

• how deep in the ground it was

• what kind of plants grew in it

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS1-5

NGSS.MS-LS2-3

NGSS.MS-LS2-4