Does Soil Have Parents

1
Does Soil Have Parents?

• Soil doesnt have a mom or dad, but it is made up
  of Parent Material--the basic stuff to make soil.

2
Is Soil Made through Magic?

• Soil doesnt just appear out of nowhere. A
  magician doesnt just wave a wand and poofsoil
  shows up. And its not made in a soil
  factory.Soil comes from broken up pieces of rocks
  and dead leaves, broken trees and dead bugs and
  those kinds of things.

3
What Does Weather Have to do With Soil?

• When the weather gets hot rocks get bigger. When
  the weather gets colder rocks get smaller. If
  this happens enough, rocks will crack and break
  into smaller pieces, when they get really small
  they turn into soil. Rain and soil also break
  rocks into pieces. So the weather does make soil.
  And thats no snow job!

4
Whats on and in the Horizon?

• Did you know that there are horizons in the soil?
  They are named O, A, B and C. O is the top
  horizon. The A horizon is topsoil that's alive
  with roots, tiny micro stuff like bacteria and
  fungi, and all kinds of critters like me. The A
  horizon is "A-OK" with me. Number three is
  horizon B. Plants and animals have a tough time
  getting through B. Why? "B"-cause it's very hard.
  See horizon C? You see, horizon C has less living
  stuff in it than O, A, and B. C is parent
  material that's made up of the rock and soil that
  formed the three layers above it.

5
Does Soil Come in Different Color?

• Soils can come in black, red, yellow, white,
  brown, and gray. Not exactly a rainbow of colors,
  but they look good to me!
  

6
How Does Water Stay in the Soil?

• When water gets into soil, it pours and pours.
  Pores are spaces in the soil that come in
  different sizes. The bigger the pore space, the
  more water it holds.

7
How Does Air Get Into the Soil?The Pores Strike
Again.

• Air gets into the soil through the same pores
  that let in and hold water. Thats good news for
  under grounders who need air.

8
Does Soil Care About Time?

• Soil is never in a hurry. Especially when it
  comes to making soil. It can take 1,000 years to
  form one inch of soil. If, people grew that
  slowly it would take 80,000 years to grow a
  basketball player.

9
Can We Keep the Soil from Blowing and Washing
Away?

• People are using plants and grass to hold down
  the soil. One way is to plant windbreaks, rows of
  trees planted beside fields to keep soil from
  blowing away.

10
Soil Conservation

• Soil conservation is the best way to make sure we
  have land we need to live on. If you see soil
  eroding, protect it with trees or grass.

11
Congratulations

• You have a worms-eye view of that wonderful stuff
  we call SOIL!