Question | Answer |
Soil is one of the most valuable ___ factors in an ecosystem because everything that lives on land depends directly or indirectly on soil | abiotic |
Soil quality properties that can be observed | soil profile, composition, texture, and particle size |
Soil profile | made up of the layers or horizons of soil |
3 layers that make up a mature soil profile | topsoil, subsoil, and parent material above the bedrock |
The most suitable soil for plant growth consists of a mixture of ___, ___, and ___ | humus, clay, minerals |
Most animals live in the ___ horizon | topsoil |
composition of soil | a mixture of rock particles, minerals, decayed organic material, air, and water |
humus | decayed organic matter in soil |
The combination of sand, silt, and clay in soil determines the soil type and affects the types of ___ that can grow in it or ___ that can live in it | plants, animals |
factors that may affect soil type | the types of plants, climate, time, and slope of the land |
soil ___ depends on the size of individual soil particles and is determined by the relative proportions of particle sizes that make up the soil | texture |
Texture names may include loam, sandy clay loam, silt loam, or clay depending upon the ___ of sand, silt, and clay in the soil sample | percent |
The texture affects the amount of ___ that can be absorbed for use by plants and animals | water |
Particle size of soil from largest to smallest | gravel, sand, silt, and clay |
Gravel | soil particles larger than 2mm |
___ size also affects the amount of water that can be absorbed and used by plants and animals | particle |
Soil properties that can be measured | pH, and permeability |
pores | open spaces between soil particles that let water flow through |
permeability | how freely water flows through the soil |
The closer the particles pack together because of particle size, the less ___ the soil is | permeable |
Measuring permeability involves calculating the ___ of drainage | rate |
Soils can be basic or acidic and usually measure ___ on the pH scale | 4-10 |
Indicators can be used to measure the ___ of soils | pH |
Most plants grow best in soils with a pH of between _ and _ | 5 and 7 |
Regardless of the nutrients present in the soil, if the pH is not suitable those nutrients will be ___ to the organisms | inaccessible |
lime | kind of fertilizer that alters pH and making the soil nutrients more accessible. |
All organisms on Earth, including humans, use resources provided by the ___ | environment |
Living things use, change, and ___ natural resources | reuse |
renewable resources | resources that can be replaced and reused by nature |
nonrenewable | Natural resources that cannot be replaced by nature |
___ ___are replaced through natural processes at a rate that is equal to or greater than the rate at which they are being used | renewable resources |
___can be cleaned and purified by plants during the process of photosynthesis as they remove carbon dioxide from the air and replace it with oxygen | Air |
The ___ ___ allows Earth’s water to be used over and over within the environment | water cycle |
___ is formed to replace soil that has been carried away by wind & water | topsoil |
renewable resource that provides a source of energy for all processes on Earth | solar energy (sunlight) |
___ ___ are exhaustible because they are being extracted and used at a much faster rate than the rate at which they were formed | Nonrenewable resources |
examples of nonrenewable resources | Fossil fuels (coal, oil, natural gas), diamonds, metals, and other minerals |
takes millions of years to be replaced | nonrenewable resources |
Reducing | involves making a decision to not use a resource when there is an alternative, such as walking or riding a bicycle rather than traveling in a car |
Reusing | involves finding a way to use a resource (or product from a resource) again without changing it or reprocessing it, such as washing a drinking glass rather than throwing away plastic or Styrofoam |
Recycling | involves reprocessing a resource (or product from a resource) so that the materials can be used again as another item, such as metals, glass or plastics being remade into new metal or glass products or into fibers. |
Protecting | involves preventing the loss of a resource, usually living things, by managing their environment to increase the chances of survival, such as providing wildlife preserves for endangered animals. |