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Soil
Soil is much more than dirt. It is a mix of broken rock, rotting leaves, water, air and a huge number of living things, and almost all our food grows in it. Find out what is inside a handful of soil, why water rushes through sand but crawls through clay, and why a centimetre of soil can take centuries to form. Three ages, each with a text, an experiment, a game, a quiz, a printable worksheet and a teacher sheet.
Ages 6–7What is in soil?Soil looks like plain brown dirt, but it is full of surprises: tiny bits of rock, old leaves, water, air and lots of living things. Let's take a close look at a handful!Ages 10–11Soil: sand, silt, clay and layersWhy does water vanish into sandy soil but make puddles on clay? Discover what soil is made of, the layers you would see if you dug a deep hole, and run a fair test on how fast water drains through different soils.Ages 15–16Soil physics: texture, bulk density and porositySoil is a porous material whose behaviour depends on particle size and packing. Learn how texture is classified, calculate bulk density and porosity from measurements, and weigh up how fast soil forms compared with how fast it can be lost.