Soil

• Learning objectives
• Students will be able to understand the formation of soil and the
weathering process
• Learning about soil profile, types of soil and its properties
• Knowing the importance of soil erosion, soil pollution and soil
conservation
 Starter activity

• Think of five different uses of soil that you see in your

day-to-day life and write down in your note book.
• Ans: Various uses of soil are: The plants that are grown
in soil can be used for food, clothing, recreation,
aesthetics, building materials, medicines, etc. Soil has
vital nutrients for plants. Soil is an important part of the
building process.
• Soil profile: A vertical section through different layers of soil is called the soil
profile, and the different layers of soil are called Horizons.
O- horizon- dead organic matter-later decomposers to form humus
A- horizon – forms topsoil-consists of humus & minerals, dark in colour-healthy
growth of plants soft,porous,holds a lot of water. It provides shelter to many
decomposers ( microbes and worms)
E- horizon --- intersection layer between A and B ,contains sand & silt.
B – horizon-- forms subsoil. Light colour, does not have humus. Rich in minerals.
( percolating water
C-horizon -- below the B- horizon. Parent rock. This layer root cannot penetrate.
Fragments broken down from the bed rock. Lack of humus, infertile. The rain
water gets collected in this layer in the form of ground water.

Bed rock- Bedrock is the bottom most layer of a soil profile.

• This layer mainly consist of huge rocks.
Humus- is the organic component of the soil, formed by the decomposition
of leaves and other plant material by soil microorganisms.
Soil erosion – Removal of topsoil by the action of
water,wind,waves and snow
 Home work
• 1. Find out different types of soil found in India through
the internet.
• 2. HOTS- Analyse the fertile soil types,and find out the
reasons for their fertility. How can we increase the fertility
of desert soil to grow crops in it?