Open your Google

Classroom for Earth

Science and answer your
assessment entitled
“Activity Number 8:
Assessment – Sources of
Energy” for 20 minutes
 1. You are in your front yard or backyard.
2. Walk at least 10 steps from your starting point.
3. How does soil particles moved with your steps. Record your
answer.
1. You are still in your front yard or backyard.
2. Run in circles as fast as you can.
3. How does soil particles were moved with your steps. Record
your answer.
1. You are still in your front yard or backyard.
2. Run in place as fast as you can.
3. How does soil particles were moved with your steps. Record
your answer.
• Describe a soil found in your front yard or backyard.
• What changes can you observe when you walked and run
on the soil?
• What do you think happened to the soil when you walked
and run?
• What will happen to the soil if you are to do the activity
again and again?
• Do you think plants and microorganism could still flourish
in that area if it is walked on or run by every day?
 Discuss and describe how the
following human activities can
lead
 Agricultural to soil erosion
Activities
 Overgrazing Animals
 Deforestation
 Mining
 Urban Development and Expansion
 Recreational Activities
 AGRICULTURAL ACTIVITIES
 Agriculture is probably the most significant activity
that accelerates soil erosion because of the amount of
land that is farmed and how much farming practices
disturb the ground.
 Farmers remove native vegetation and then plow the
land to plant new seeds. Because most crops grow
only in spring and summer, the land lies fallow
during the winter, so wind and rain are available to
wash soil away.
 The soil that is most likely to erode is the nutrient-
rich topsoil, which degrades the farmland.
 OVERGRAZING ANIMALS
 Grazers expose soil by removing the plant
cover for an area. They also churn up the
ground with their hooves. If too many
animals graze the same land area, the animals'
hooves pull plants out by their roots.
 This reduces the ability for plants to grow and
water to penetrate, which harms soil microbes
and results in serious erosion of the land.
 DEFORESTATION
 Trees and their roots provide the soil with an anchor,
as well as shelter from the wind and rain. When
forests are wiped out, the land becomes exposed,
leaving it vulnerable to being washed or blown away
by elements.
 While the slash and burn technique of deforestation
introduces significant volumes of carbon dioxide into
the atmosphere it has become popular due to its
speed and cost-effectiveness at clearing an area.
 This technique in particular leaves soils vulnerable to
the wind and rain, acting as a major contributor to
soil erosion.
 MINING
 Strip mining (also known as open cast,
mountaintop or surface mining) involves
scraping away earth and rocks to get to coal
buried near the surface. In many cases,
mountains are literally blasted apart to reach
thin coal seams within, leaving permanent
scars on the landscape as a result.
 URBAN DEVELOPMENT AND EXPANSION

 Urbanization disturbs soil and

sediment which leads to erosion.
Human use of land in the urban
environment has increased both the
magnitude and frequency of floods. ...
This causes an increase in the amount
of runoff after rainfall leading to flash
floods.
 RECREATIONAL ACTIVITIES
 Off-road vehicles disturb the
landscape and the area eventually
develops bare spots where no
plants can grow. In some delicate
habitats, even hikers' boots can
disturb the ground, so it's important
to stay on the trail.
Contour plowing was a method
of plowing furrows that follow
the curves of the land rather
than straight up and down
slopes.
An agricultural practice that suggests
rearranging farmlands or turning hills
into farmlands by constructing specific
ridged platforms. These platforms are
called terraces.
Cover crops are plants that are
planted to cover the soil rather
than for the purpose of being
harvested.
Crop rotation is the practice of planting
different crops sequentially on the same
plot of land to improve soil health,
optimize nutrients in the soil, and
combat pest and weed pressure.
Silt fences, often referred to as Windbreaks are linear plantings
filter fences, are temporary of trees and shrubs designed to
barriers used to control sediment provide economic, environmental
during construction. and community benefits.