1. Chapter 3 Lesson 3 Essential Question: What is soil made up of? TYPES OF SOIL & PARTICLES

2. Lesson 3 Vocabulary soil topsoil subsoil contour plowing terrace farming

3. ObservationsFacts Silt Sand Loam Clay What is soil made up of? moderate size smooth floury texture largest particle gritty feel smallest particle feels sticky combination of sand, silt, and clay

4. Sizes of Soil Particles smallest to largest: clay silt fine sand medium sand coarse sand

5. Try This! Identifying Soil Texture 1.Spread soil on newspaper. Remove all rocks, trash, roots, etc. Crush all lumps. 2.Fill a tall, slender jar ¼ full of soil. 3.Add water until the jar is ¾ full. 4.Add a teaspoon of non-foaming dishwasher detergent. 5.Put on a tight fitting lid and shake hard for 10-15 minutes. This shaking breaks apart the soil aggregates and separates the soil into individual mineral particles. 6.Set the jar where it will not be disturbed for 2-3 days. 7.Soil particles will settle out according to size. 8.After 1 minute, mark on the jar the depth of the sand. 9.After 2 hours, mark the depth of silt. 10.When the water clears (1-3 days or more), mark the clay levels. 11.Measure the thickness of sand, silt, and clay layers and calculate the percentages of each. 12.Refer to the soil texture triangle and identify your soil.

6. Soil Texture Experiment

7. Measure the thickness of the sand, silt, and clay. thickness of sand =______ inches thickness of silt = _______ inches thickness of clay = _______ inches TOTAL = _______ inches

8. Calculate the percentage of sand, silt, and clay. sand thickness / total thickness = ______ percent sand silt thickness / total thickness = ______ percent silt clay thickness / total thickness = ______ percent clay Identify soil texture using the soil texture triangle.

9. Soil Texture Triangle For example, a soil with 30% clay, 50% sand, 20%silt is called a sandy loam.

10. A natural resource made up of minerals and small rocks, gases, water, and organic matter = soil topsoil subsoil bedrock Georgia’s soil looks red because it contains lots of iron Cotton grows well in our soil.

11. Flashback to the 1930’s: Drought caused big problems for farmers. Without rain, land was extra dry. Because farmers planted their crops in long, straight lines, the wind blew through their fields more strongly and blew their topsoil away. Crops could not grow! Protecting Topsoil Contour plowing: soil is plowed in curved rows that follow the shape of the land. This decreases wind and water damage to the land.

12. Farmers keep soil in place by planting cover crops. This is what happens: Soil sticks to plant roots. Stems & leaves protect the soil from wind. Farmers protect soil that is lost from moving down hills by using terrace farming. Crops are planted on level sections.