Content: Soil Formation
Learning Competencies:
1. Explain how soil is formed from rocks and minerals.
1. Illustrate how erosion transports Earth materials.
Explain:
1. Soil formation from rocks and minerals is important because rocks provide
the essential mineral nutrients and particles that form the foundation of soil,
supporting plant life, agriculture, and the global food system.
(Soil forms from the weathering of rocks and minerals through physical,
chemical, and biological processes that break them down into smaller
particles)
2. Illustrating erosion's transport of Earth materials is crucial for understanding soil loss,
land degradation, and the formation of landforms like deltas and canyons. It
highlights the detrimental effects of unsustainable land use on soil health and
ecosystems, and the significant role these processes play in the rock cycle and the
distribution of sediments globally. This knowledge informs conservation strategies, helps
predict natural hazards like landslides, and clarifies how erosion influences the
global carbon cycle.
Activities: Soil Formation
Group your students to five. Give each of them 1 fact about soil. Assist them in
preparing a short news report about the fact they are assigned to. To allow
them to finish the activity successfully, perform a sample news presentation
about the layers of the soil. You can help each group understand the facts
assigned to them and you can print the guide image to serve as their visual aid.
Facts Guide Images
Soil is made up of 4 different components.
air – 25%, water – 25%, minerals – 46%, and
organic matter – 4%
Air comes from microorganisms living in the soil.
Water comes from rain.
Minerals come from weathered rocks.
Organic materials come from plant litter, animal
manure, and decomposed animal remains.
[Link]
thecomposition-of-soil
Soil is essential to sustain life.
Plants depend on soil to give them food, air,
water, and a place for their roots to call “home”
as they develop. Ultimately, humans’ and other
creatures’ health depends on plants. Soils support
95% of all food production.
[Link]
[Link] soil-is-vital-to-human-life-onearth-
[Link]
It takes over 100 years to form soil.
Weathering is physical, chemical, or biological.
Rocks deteriorate through weathering, resulting
in soil’s slow formation. Soil development comes
from material buildup caused by gravity, wind,
and water. These processes can go on for tens of
thousands of years.
[Link]
[Link]
formation/
Humans get clean drinking water because
of soil.
The natural water filtration system of Earth is the
soil. Surface water trickles down through the
different soil layers, filtering out pollutants like
chemicals, dust, and other impurities. In this
manner, the water is clean as it enters
underground aquifers and begins to gather there.
[Link] -factsfor-kids/
[Link]
30790138567930291
A lot of microorganisms live in soil.
Around 1 billion microorganisms live in 1
teaspoon of soil. They are responsible for
decomposing organic matter, producing nutrients
for plants, making pollutants less harmful, and
cleaning water in the soil.
[Link] -factsfor-kids/
[Link]
ct_details/[Link]
Soil has six layers.
The O horizon covers the surface of the ground. It’s
mainly composed of organic matter like decomposing
leaves or bugs. This organic matter is called humus.
Depending on the location, the O horizon can be very
thick or entirely missing.
Often called topsoil, the A horizon consists of surface
soil. This layer mainly contains minerals and
decomposed organic material. Most plant roots grow in
the A horizon.
The E horizon is also known as the eluviated layer.
Clay, minerals, and organic matter leach down out of
this layer. Sand and silt particles of quartz are left
behind. It is often found in older soils and forest soils.
The B horizon consists of subsoil, which lies beneath
the surface soil. This layer has clay and mineral
deposits. It has less organic material than the O and A
[Link]
horizons. nal-resources/backgrounders/whatsoil
Activities: Soil Erosion
Show the video to students:
Title: Time-Lapse: The Power of water
Length: 0:27
Link: [Link]
Guide Questions:
1. What happened to the soil in the video?
2. What did the water do to the soil?
After the last question, ask them what are other ways that soil can be moved to
another location. List on the board the agents of erosion that they can mention.