Soil

📖 In short

Soil is the thin layer of earth covering much of the Earth's surface. It might look like just dirt, but it's a precious treasure, because plants grow in it, and animals and people eat the plants. Without soil we'd have almost no food!

🤩 Did you know?

The breaking down of rocks is called weathering, and it can be natural or chemical.
Dark soil is usually rich in humus.
Plant roots hold soil and stop wind and water carrying it away.
Vegetable and fruit scraps can be made into compost for the soil.

🔎 Find out more

🌟 What is it made of?

Soil is made of tiny grains of crumbled rock, rotted remains of plants and animals called humus, and the water and air that fill the gaps between them.

🔍 How do they form?

Soil forms very slowly: sun, rain, frost and roots break rocks down bit by bit, then the remains of leaves and living things mix in. A few centimeters of soil can take hundreds of years.

💡 A world under our feet

A small handful of soil holds millions of tiny living things, like earthworms, insects, bacteria and fungi, which make the soil rich and healthy.

🎯 Kinds of soil

Sandy soil is coarse and water runs through it fast; clay soil is fine and sticky and holds water; and the best soil for growing things is a mix of both, with lots of humus.