Soil Basics
Weathering & Erosion
Farming & Conservation
Farming & Conservation
Pesticides & Resistance
100
This soil horizon is made mostly of bedrock.
What is bedrock (R horizon)?
100
Breaking rock into smaller pieces without changing its chemical makeup.
What is mechanical weathering?
100
Farming practice that keeps soil covered to reduce erosion.
What is cover cropping?
100
This irrigation method uses the least amount of water.
What is drip irrigation?
100
Using the same pesticide repeatedly can lead to this problem.
What is pesticide resistance?
200
List soil particles from largest to smallest.
What are sand, silt, clay?
200
This type of weathering changes the chemical composition of rock.
What is chemical weathering?
200
Name one farming practice that conserves soil.
What is terracing, contour plowing, crop rotation, or no-till farming?
200
Which irrigation type is least efficient: drip, sprinkler, or flood?
What is flood irrigation?
200
Pesticide resistance is an example of this biological process.
What is natural selection?
300
This term describes the amount of empty space between soil particles.
What is porosity?
300
The ecological disaster caused by drought and poor farming during the Great Depression.
What is the Dust Bowl?
300
This problem occurs when salts build up in soil from irrigation.
What is soil salinization?
300
When soil is bare, erosion is more or less likely to occur?
What is more likely?
300
Since 1960, insecticide resistance has generally done this.
What is increased?
400
This soil property describes how easily water moves through soil.
What is permeability?
400
The Dust Bowl was mainly caused by this type of erosion.
What is wind erosion?
400
Organic fertilizer comes from this source.
What is plant or animal waste (manure/compost)?
400
Why does bare soil increase erosion?
What is no plant roots to hold soil in place?
400
Why has pesticide use decreased since the 1990s according to the graph?
What is GM crops (like Bt corn) reduce the need for pesticides?
500
Which soil type is least permeable: gravel, sand, or clay?
What is clay?
500
Name two causes of desertification.
What are overgrazing, deforestation, drought, or poor farming practices?
500
Inorganic fertilizer comes from this source.
What are synthetic or mined chemicals?
500
How does irrigation contribute to soil salinization?
What is water evaporates and leaves salts behind?
500
Explain how pesticide resistance develops in a population.
What is resistant insects survive, reproduce, and pass on resistance traits?