1. Soil Vocabulary

2. Natural Resource
Materials removed from the Earth and used by people

3. Nonrenewable Resource
Earth materials that cannot be replaced by nature in one’s lifetime (examples: soil, oil, coal, gas, metals, and minerals.

4. Renewable Resource
Earth materials that can be replaced by nature in one’s lifetime (examples: plants and animals)

5. Inexhaustible Resource
Nonrenewable resources that are able to be reused over and over (examples: water, air, and soil)

6. Soil
Loose material at the Earth’s surface that is capable of supporting plant and animal life

7. Living or the remains of living plants and animals found in the soil
Organic Matter
Living or the remains of living plants and animals found in the soil

8. Decomposed plant and animal remains that help make soil fertile
Humus
Decomposed plant and animal remains that help make soil fertile

9. Weathered rock broken into very small pieces over long periods of time
Mineral Matter
Weathered rock broken into very small pieces over long periods of time

10. Soil Composition
Made up of varying amounts of mineral matter, organic matter or humus, water, and air.