What makes up soil?
In this activity, students use an interactive or paper-based graphic organiser to explore their ideas about the components of soil.
By the end of this activity, students should be able to:
recognise that inorganic mineral particles are components of soil
recognise that organic matter (including living organisms) is a component of soil
recognise that water and air are components of soil
justify their choices about what makes up soil.
What makes up soil? – graphic organiser
Is part of the soil
Is not part of the soil
Not sure
Unused items
- Air
- Clay
- Concrete
- Dead insects
- Dead leaves
- Diamond
- Earthworms
- Microbes
- Pebbles
- Sand
- Sun
- Toy turtle
- Volcano
- Water
What makes up soil? – graphic organiser
Use this interactive graphic organiser with your students to explore their ideas about the components of soil. Place each image where you think it belongs. This activity can be done individually, in pairs or as a whole class.
Download the Word file (see link below) for:
introduction/background notes
what you need
what to do
extension ideas
student worksheet.
Related content
Use these articles to aid in discussions on the science ideas and concepts relating to soil
Image card acknowledgements:
Pebbles by Joanbanjo. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0
Drops Impact by Marlon Felippe. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
Clay-ss-2005 by Siim. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0
Leaf litter by Mokkie. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0
Concrete Casting Defect Blowhole by Elgewen – own work. Licensed under Creative Commons 1.0
Two diamonds by Washington Diamonds Corporation/Inbal-Tania Studio. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0
Turtle plushie by Anil Öztas. Licensed under CC-BY-SA-3.0-de
Microbes, earthworms and dead insects, © University of Waikato
