Grade 10 · CAPS

Grade 10 Soil Science

Agricultural Sciences practice questions and a worked example

Grade 10 Agricultural Sciences soil science questions cover soil components, minerals, rocks, weathering, soil forming factors and the soil profile. You read a pie chart of soil components, the rock cycle and a soil profile, classify minerals as primary or secondary and rocks as igneous, sedimentary or metamorphic, and name processes such as hydrolysis, carbonation and illuviation. They come from the Eastern Cape Department of Education’s Grade 10 November Paper 2s for 2018 and 2019 and its 2020 exemplar, each with the answer from the marking guideline.

Worked example

QUESTION 2: SOIL SCIENCES 2.1 Soil is made up of a mixture of rock particles, organic matter, minerals, living organisms, air and water. Good agricultural soil should contain all these components in the correct proportions. The size of soil particles and their proportions will in turn determine the texture of a soil. 2.1.3 Explain the influence of fine textured soil on the movement of air in the soil.

Answer & explanation

Presence of micro pores between soil particles result in a slow movement of air.

Fine textured soils, like clay, have very small particles. These particles pack closely together, creating micro pores. Micro pores are tiny spaces between the particles that restrict the movement of air. Because the pores are small, air moves through them slowly. This slow movement of air can affect the soil's ability to supply oxygen to plant roots, which is crucial for plant growth. In contrast, coarse textured soils, like sand, have larger particles and larger pores, allowing air to move more freely.

Test your understanding

Try a similar Grade 10 Soil Science question and get a useful next step based on your answer.

No account needed to start.

Soil Science

Question 1 of 3

1.1.1 One of the following is a characteristic of primary minerals.

AFormed through oxidationBFormed during the crystallisation of rocksCPresent in clay particlesDFormed with free oxygen

Learn from each answer, right or wrong.

Try again before revealing the solution.

Common mistakes

Swapping primary and secondary minerals. Primary minerals such as quartz and mica are still in their original form; secondary minerals such as kaolinite and montmorillonite form when primary minerals undergo chemical change.
Mixing up eluviation and illuviation. Eluviation takes place in the A horizon; illuviation, the accumulation of material leached from above, takes place in the B horizon.
Leaving the answer in kilograms when grams are asked. A mineral component of 45% in a 1 kg soil sample is 0,45 kg, which is 450 g.

Grade 10 Soil Science

Worked example

Test your understanding

More practice questions

Common mistakes

More Grade 10 Agricultural Sciences topics

Need more help with Grade 10 Agricultural Sciences?

Know what to work on before your exams.

Stuck on a question?