Sixth Grade
Worksheets
A Rainbow of Soil
It might not be as colorful as a rainbow in the sky, but soil is not all boring and brown. Geologists officially recognize more than one hundred seventy different colors of soil. Most of these are shades of black, brown, red, gray, and white. Scientists can learn a lot about soil from its color. Normally, darker soil contains the most nutrients. Dark soil tends to have the most humus, or decayed organic matter. Scientists have also observed that soil with a red or yellow hue contains oxidized iron. This soil alternates between being wet and dry throughout the year. It may also be dry during a growing season. Gray or blue soil, on the other hand, is normally wet most of the time. Light colored soil tends to be leached. The organic material .....
