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Transcript
Soil Science Big Ideas There are different types of rocks under the ground. From these rocks different types of soils over time have formed. Rocks are made of a mineral or cemented minerals. Soil is made up of many different components – either disintegrated rocks and living or dead organic matter. Organic matter is made of the organic compounds – carbon / oxygen / phosphorus / nitrogen / sulphur Soil composition is also dependent on weather elements such as temperature and rainfall. Within the soil there are ecosystems where the organisms, (living or non living, plant or animal) are interdependent. They are also dependent on climatic conditions. Forming of soil is an ever changing slow process which can be hugely impacted by natural events and human actions. Humans are totally dependent on soil to grow food. Plants contribute to soil making by breaking down rocks – through the roots by physically growing into them and by releasing acids onto the rocks to get them to release the minerals. Animals contribute to soil making by eating dead organic material (plants and animals) and minerals then they poo it - which makes a mixture of organic compounds and minerals. Some animals, like earthworms and dung beetles, as they live in the soil mix their poo through the existing soil which creates top soil. They drag other organic parts up and down too as they move through the soil. A living soil needs organic and inorganic material plus water and air. Compiled by Esther Dijkstra and Gill Stewart