Soil, which is part of the Earth's geosphere, is such an important part of an ecosystem. It supports many forms of life, including plants and the microscopic bacteria that decompose practically everything that's in an ecosystem. How does the type of soil that is in an ecosystem affect the types of plants that grow there? Do soils absorb water different? Do they release it differently?
Fifth graders had the opportunity to look and feel at three types of soils (topsoil, sand, and gravel) both when dry and wet. They then designed an investigation to measure how much water each of the soils could hold.
Their conclusions? That different soils hold different amounts of water, and that this would certainly affect how plants could survive in each of these soils.
Fifth graders had the opportunity to look and feel at three types of soils (topsoil, sand, and gravel) both when dry and wet. They then designed an investigation to measure how much water each of the soils could hold.
Their conclusions? That different soils hold different amounts of water, and that this would certainly affect how plants could survive in each of these soils.