Digging on Dirt: Soil and Its Importance
Read the article "Digging on Dirt" and use the information to answer the following questions and write an essay. Be sure to use evidence from the article to support your answers.
Group 1
Read the passage and use the information to answer the following questions.
Source 1.1
Dirt or Soil?
1 Put on your boots, go outside, and dig. What do you find? 2 Did you say dirt? That's true. But you could also say soil. Soil is the word scientists use for dirt.
Soil All Around
3 Soil covers most of Earth's land. It stretches under grass and in gardens. 4 Soil also lies beneath sidewalks and roads. Sandy beaches are a kind of soil. So are muddy riverbanks and forest floors.
Life-Giving Soil
5 Soil brings life to Earth. Plants dig their roots deep down to find water and food. 6 Many animals live in soil, too. Wriggling worms and burrowing groundhogs could not live without it. 7 You couldn't live without soil. 8 Plants need soil to grow. Animals eat plants. Without soil, there would be no food!
Soil's Ingredients
9 So what are the magic ingredients in soil? 10 Soil is made up of rocks, air, and water. Soil is also filled with what's left over of dead plants and animals after they've rotted away. 11 Falling leaves, twigs, and dead bugs land on the ground. As they rot, they change into rich, black humus. 12 Humus might not sound tasty to you, but it's like food for plants! 13 But most of the dirt that slips through your fingers is actually tiny bits of rock. At one time, these tiny rocks were parts of big rocks.
How Soil Forms
14 Rain, snow, ice, and sunlight break the big rocks down into tiny pieces of rock. This can take thousands of years. Then the rock pieces mix with the humus to form the soil you see.
Sand, Silt, and Clay
15 Three kinds of tiny rocks make up soil. They are sand, silt, and clay. 16 A piece of sand is not much bigger than the head of a pin. Silt and clay are smaller still.
Source 1.2
Kinds of Soil
17 Sandy soil is coarse and loose. It won't hold much water. 18 Smooth, sticky soil has lots of clay. When this soil dries out, it becomes as hard as concrete. Plant roots can't grow. 19 On the other hand, soil with a lot of silt dries out. The soil might blow away in a cloud of dust. 20 So what kind of soil is just right for growing plants? It has more sand and silt and less clay. It has the same amount of air and water. And it is rich in humus. 21 Go outside and dig again. Is your soil dry and dusty or wet and muddy? Do you see worms and bugs in your soil? What is the soil like where you live?
From DIGGING ON DIRT by Rena Korb, MAGIC WAGON, © 2008.
Group 2
Essay: Write your essay in the empty box below.
Read the article "Digging on Dirt." Based on the information in the article, write a response to the following:
Explain the ways that soil is important to Earth.
Write a well-organized informational composition that uses specific evidence from the article to support your answer.
Remember to —
- clearly state your central idea
- organize your writing
- develop your ideas in detail
- use evidence from the selection in your response
- use correct spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and grammar
Manage your time carefully so that you can —
- review the selection
- plan your response
- write your response
- revise and edit your response
Write your response in the box provided.
Question 2a
Explain the ways that soil is important to Earth. Write a well-organized informational composition that uses specific evidence from the article to support your answer.
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