1. There are five major soil-forming factors that will influence the characteristics of a soil. What are the 3 passive factors?
2. What are the 2 active factors that will influence the characteristics of a soil?
3. What is the most important of the five major soil-forming factors?
4. As a generalization, are the soil-forming processes most active when the temperature of the region is high or low?
5. As a generalization, are the soil-forming processes most active when the amount of moisture available in a region is high or low?
6. In terms of topography, do soils tend to be deepest where the slope of the land is steep or gentle?
7. The solid part of the soil includes both inorganic minerals and _____ matter.
8. In an average soil, almost half the volume may be made up of pore spaces, which contain either _____ or _____.
9. One of the most important physical properties of a soil is the relative proportion of sand, silt and clay in the mineral fraction. What is this property called?
10. Are the largest particles in soil (from 0.05 to 2 mm) classified as sand, silt or clay?
11. Are the smallest particles in soil (smaller than 0.002 mm) classified as sand, silt or clay?
12. What type of mineral particle is chemically active in the soil?
13. What do we call a soil which is a good mixture of all three particle sizes, in which no one of the separates is dominant?
14. For a soil to have good drainage and good aeration, it needs a high proportion of what type of particle?
15. For a soil to hold more water at field capacity, it needs a high proportion of what type of particle?
16. What do we call water that is in the soil temporarily, infiltrating after a rain and then draining away?
17. What do we call water that remains in small pores in the soil and on the surfaces of soil particles?
18. What do we call water that adheres tightly in a microscopically thin film around soil particles?
19. What type of soil water is most available to plants?
