CONTENTS Page 4 Page 6 Page 8 Page 10 Page 12 Page 14 Page 16 Page 18 Page 20 Page 24 Page 26 Page 28 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Under Our Feet Super Soil A Recipe for Soil Soil Horizons The Soil Ecosystem A City Below the Ground Plants and Soil Get the Dirt on Compost Animals in the Soil Mud Mud Glorious Mud Don’t Spoil the Soil Smashing Soil and Marvelous Mud Soil Quiz Glossary Index Words that look like this are explained in the glossary on page 31
OUR FEET UNDER AWESOME IT’S ABOVE YOUR HEAD The Earth we live on is perfect for us it has everything we need to live Just go outside and look around you Look up and you will see the sky above You’ll feel the warm sun on your face as it lights up the world You’ll see the clouds bringing the rain and you’ll breathe in the lovely fresh air 4
IT’S AMAZING ALL AROUND YOU All around you there are plants that we can eat trees that clean our air and buildings for shelter Earth is covered in amazing landscapes There are golden deserts bright white ice sheets and lush rain forests Humans have built some amazing things too Thousands of years ago our ancestors built pyramids and stone circles We are still building incredible things today including whole new islands RAIN FOREST STONEHENGE PALM JUMERIAH DUBAI PYRAMID LOOK DOWN But have you ever thought about looking down All of these buildings trees and structures are rooted in the shifting sands and soils of Earth All of that important soil beneath our feet is often forgotten about It might just look like boring brown stuff but it’s so much more than that There is lots to be found down in the ground so let’s dig into the soil and see what we can uncover 5
