Flashcards › Studying Soil Scientifically

Observation Is a complete and accurate desrciption Metric System Used in science, a measurement system based on factors of 10 Soil is described by color and how it feels Topsoil rock, soil, air, water, nutrients Evidence unbiased data gathered from direct observation Opinion A view someone takes without support of factual evidence Composition What makes up something. In our case everything that makes up soil is the soil's compostion Decompose To break down into basic elements Nutrients make soil healthy, Phosphorous, nitrogen, and potassium Organic Matter Plant and animal material found in topsoil that is in the process of decomposing. Sand Largest particles Silt medium sized particles Clay Smallest particles Sand/Silt/Clay Pieces of weathered rocks Weathering Breaking down of rocks Soil Color Yellowish brown, reddish brown, grayish brown, chocolate brown Soil Consistence Describes a soil's resistance to breaking apart Types of consistence Loose, friable, firm Soil Texture a soil's proportion of differnt-sized particles Types of texture Grainy(sand), silky(silt), sticky(clay) Desert soil Dry, sandy, light in color, firm, grainy Forest soil Moist, grayish to reddish brown, loose, sticky Grassland soil reddish brown, loose, silky, lots of nutrients tropical grassland soil dry, sticky, lots of clay, light in color Dust Bowl Poor farming practices and weather conditions, caused the topsoil to be blown away Native Plant a plant that lives or grows naturally in a particular region, without direct or indirect human intervention Fertilizer used to add missing nutrients, fertilizers can be manufactured or organic Control Provides a standard for comparision Tradeoff Is something that is given up when one alternative is chosen over another Issues in Earth Science