Explain: Physical Properties of Soil

Teachers may use the following materials to develop lectures, student reading materials, or as resources for further investigations.

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Plant available water varies by soil type.

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KSKL Figure 2-9. A general graphical representation of the amount of water available for plant use (plant available water) is shown as the area between the field capacity line (water held in soil after the gravitational water has been removed) and the permanent wilting point line (water that cannot be extracted by plant roots). The largest amount of pant available water occurs when the soil texture is in the loam to silty loam range. Adding organic matter will increase the amount of plant-available water.

Use the graphic to the right, and ask students to consider the impacts of soil texture and other physical properties on farming. Which soils would be the most/least suitable for farming?

Supplemental Reading Materials

Soils Overview (PDF) Soils Overview
Soil Formation (PDF) Soil Formation
Soil Color Soil Color
The Color of Soil (PDF) downloaded the original article from Science Teacher. The Color of Soil
Good background reading and includes a PDF of Wisconsin Soil Colors Wisconsin Soil Colors
Soil Texture (PDF) Soil Texture
Texture

Power Point Files available for Educator Use

See this link for the following Activities and PPT Files:

Soil Basics for K12 (IYS-Jan)
Intro to Soil for K-12 Audience (IYS- Jan)
Getting the Dirt on your State Soil (Know your State Soil! PPTX) (IYS-Jan)
Part 1 Soils are Fundamental for Life

Addtional Online Resources

UC Davis Soil Properties Soil Properties