The Good Earth VA S3.6, 3.8

1. Other than support and nutrients needed for plant growth, what else can soil provide? (Hint: This benefits your typical creepy crawlies
2. We can (save and protect) soil by composting, rotating crops and planting trees and shrubs.
7. The original rock from which the soil was formed
10. Materials that come directly from the Earth, and are useful to humans.
12. The layer under parent rock, which is mostly solid. It is the last layer in soil.
13. This soil component is larger than clay but smaller than sand and does hold water.
14. Similar to topsoil but it has very little humus and no teeny organisms.

1. If a student wanted to make sure a plant received enough nutrients, they could add what component to their potting soil?
3. The process that moves rocks and soil from one place to another.
4. The wearing down of a hard rock by the forces of nature - such as rivers, wind, and freezing and thawing - that breaks rocks apart.
5. Materials that plants and animals need to survive.
6. This is the upper soil surface and a natural product of subsoil and bedrock. It is best for plant growth.
8. What soil component is made up of tiny particles of soil that hold water well and provide nutrients?
9. What soil component is made up of small grains of worn-down rock that don't hold water well?
11. The solid mineral material forming part of the surface of the Earth, exposed on the surface or underlying the soil or oceans.