Students compare the properties of three kinds of soil: loam, humus, and clay, and of soil samples brought from home. They conclude that different soil types contain different materials. Students make their own soil by grinding up and mixing organic and inorganic material.

Student Resources

• 4.1 Vocabulary
• 4.2 What Is Soil Made Of?
• 4.3 Comparing Soil Samples
• 4.4 Making Soil
• 4.5 Section 4 Assessment

Learn by Reading

For additional content-area reading, check out the Houghton Mifflin Science eBook: Grade 2, Unit C, pages 10–11.