1. Mia has three soil samples: sand, clay, and loam. She wants to figure out which soil is which by testing their properties. What is one way Mia can investigate and tell the soils apart?

• • She can add water to each soil. Clay holds the most water, sand drains quickly, and loam holds water but also drains well.

• • She can observe the texture of the soils. Sand feels smooth when wet, clay feels gritty, and loam feels rough and rocky.

• • She can use a hand lens to look at the particles. Clay has the largest particles, sand has the smallest, and loam is in between.

• • She can look at color to identify the soils. Clay is usually brown, sand is black, and loam is white.

Which of the following best describes sand?

• smallest particle size, has a very smooth texture and retains the most water.

• large particles, is very smooth, and holds a lot of nutrients

• large particles, is very rough, and holds the fewest nutrients

• large grains, drains water, and has a lot of nutrients

Which of the following best describes clay?

• large particles, is very rough, and holds the fewest nutrients. 

• very large, gray grains. It does not hold water well.

• large grains, drains water, and is tan

• holds water and has very small grains

Which of the following answer choices best describe loam? (Pick 2 answers)

• A combination of clay, sand, and humus

• It has a mixture of particle sizes.

• Holds the fewest nutrients

• Plants do not grow well in this type of soil

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS1-5

NGSS.MS-LS2-1

Which if the following best describes gravel?

• it feels rocky

• it retains a lot of water

• it has a lot of nutrients that help plants to grow well

• it is a tan color

A student wanted to find out which type of soil helps sunflowers grow the best. What would be the best investigation to carry out?

• • Add the sunflower seeds to clay and gravel and measure the growth of plants.

• • Add sunflower seeds to sand and measure the growth of plants.

• • Plant a sunflower seed in clay, sand, gravel, and loam and measure the growth of the plants.

• Plant three sunflower seeds in a mixture of all the soils and measure how much it grows.

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS1-5

NGSS.MS-LS2-1

NGSS.MS-LS2-4

Which of the following makes up soil? (Pick 3 answer choices)

• rocks

• minerals

• only clay and gravel

• material that was once a living thing

Brooks was outside digging in his backyard and found a soil with large grains, feels very rough, does not retain water or hold nutrients. What type of soil did he find?

• loam

• sand

• clay

• gravel

What type of soil is shown in the image?

• sand

• clay

• gravel

• loam

What types of soil are shown in this picture?

• sand

• loam

• clay

• gravel