Soil

Q What is soil? A: Soil is mixture of small pieces of rocks and dead animals and plants. It covers the rocky

surface of the earth.

Q What is soil made up of?A: Soil is made up of rocks, stones, minerals and humus.

Q Show the layers of the soil.

Q What is humus?A: Humus is decayed plants and animals.

Q What is decay?A: When plants and animals die, they become food for tiny living things like bacteria, fungi

and earthworms. This is decay.

Q How soil is formed?A: Soil is formed when rocks are broken down by physical or chemical weathering.

Q How much time does it take to form soil?A: It takes 500 years to form 3 cms of soil.

Q What are functions of soil?A: Soil fixes the plant in ground. It provides water and minerals to plants.

Q How do farmers make their soil more fertile?A: Farmers spray their soil with fertilizers to make it more fertile.

Q What are fertilizers?A: Any substance that is added to soil to ensure healthy crops are called fertilizers.

Q Name types of soil.A: 1) Clayey 2) Garden (Loam) 3) Sandy

Q Which soil is best for most of plants?A: Garden (Loam) soil as it contains a lot of humus and is brown in colour.

Q What is the use of sandy soil?A: It is used to make glass and concrete.

Q Write characteristics of sandy soil.A: Sandy soil is light soil and has large particles. So it cannot be packed closely together. It

has more space for air. It soaks water very quickly.

Q Write characteristics of clayey soil.A: Clayey soil is heavy and has small particles. So it can be packed closely together. It has

less space for air. It soaks water very slowly.

Q What is the use of clay soil?A: it is used to make pots, toys and bricks.

Q Explain how do we seperate different size soil particles?A: We use a sieve to sort soil into particles of different sizes using

sieves with different size holes.