What is the dirt on soil?

Soil, is made from rocks that break apart or wear away over many years.  This is referred to as weathering.  It may take 100 to 1,000 years for 1 cm of soil to form through weathering.  Soil also contains air, water, and humus, the decayed remains of dead animals and plants. 

Soil can actually be separated into 5 main parts. They are:

• Humus

• Clay

• Sand

• Silt

• gravel

Humus

Humus: A dark, moist soil composed of bits of dead, rotting insects, animals, leaves, roots, sticks, and food.  Humus adds nutrients to the soil which plants need to grow and live.

Clay

Clay: A soil that holds water.  When wet, clay feels slippery and slimy.  It is made of particles that are smaller than 0.004 millimeters.

Silt

Silt: Soil that looks like fine grains or tiny pieces of rock.  Particles classified as silt measure from 0.004 millimeters to 0.006 millimeters.

Sand

Sand: Soil that is coarse and drains quickly.  Sand particles measure from about 0.006 millimeters to 2.00 millimeters.

Gravel

Gravel: Visible rock particles, sometimes referred to as pebbles.

How are sand and potting soil different?

Now that you have the dirt on soil, lets look at some samples of potting soil and sand.

Take your science journal and fill in the glossary with the title.

Now go to the next 2 pages in your journal and lets get started…

Set up your journal…

December 6 How Are Sand And Potting Soil Different?

SAND POTTING SOIL

Sand Observations

Potting Soil Observations

These are your materials…

• Sand

• Potting soil

• Paper plates

• Hand lens

• Sifter if available

Procedure…

On a plate, pour a small sample of potting soil and a small sample of sand.

Make observations about what each sample looks like, feels like, color, texture…

Use the magnifying glass to examine each sample and write your observations.

Now using the strainer, sift some of the soil onto the plate.

What do you see?Now do the same with sand.

Lets map it out…

Now using a double bubble map and your observations, compare and contrast what you noticed about sand and potting soil.

SandPotting

Soil