Soil Vocabulary
Andrea Williams
3rd Grade
Hillpoint Elementary School
Soil! A natural resource found in our own
backyard!!
Soil is the loose material in which plants can grow
in the upper layer of Earth. It is made up of rock,
humus, air, and water.
Soil is made up of 5 important components and has
3 layers!
The 5 Components of Soil
Read these with me!
• Humus
• Sand
• Silt
• Clay
• Rock
Humus
This is decayed (rotten, rotting) plant
and animal matter in the soil. It
provides nutrients to the soil.
**Do you remember where it can be found?
***How do you think humus is formed?
Click on the mushroom to see the answer.
Back
Sand
Sand is made up of small grains of weathered
rock.
 DOES NOT hold water well!
 Few nutrients
Silt
Made up of very small pieces of broken rock.
Sand > Silt > Clay
Clay
• Can be red or yellow!
• Holds water well!
• Contains nutrients!
Back
3 Layers of Soil!
Read these with me!
• Topsoil
• Subsoil
• Bedrock
Topsoil
• This is the top layer.
• It is where animals live and plants grow.
• It is a mixture of humus and rock
fragments.
• It is the best layer for growing plants!
Back
Subsoil
• Made up mostly of clay
• Under the topsoil
• Not as good for growing plants
Bedrock
This is the third and bottom layer of soil. It
is under the subsoil.
It is made up of weathered rock and solid
rock.
The worst part of soil for plant growth.
Nutrients
These are the materials that plants and animals
need to grow. Do you remember where they
can be found in soil?
What layer? Check here
Which components? Check here
Weathering
(breaks down)
When rocks and other materials on the Earth’s
surface are broken down into smaller pieces
by weather, water, and living things.
Beach in Corolla, N.C
Weathering of the rocks and stumps in
Corolla, N.C.
Erosion
(moves it)
This is a force that gradually wears away
soil and its nutrients. Can be caused by
natural elements such as wind, water,
and ice. This is because of the flow due
to gravity.
*Check out this experiment on erosion.
Beach in Corolla, N.C
Some more pictures of Erosion!
Beach in Corolla, N.C.
Beach in Corolla, N.C.