Roots and the Underworld
Scramble and Scrabble

• Roots are like straws, spreading down into the soil to suck up water and nutrients which all plants need for growth. 
• Roots are also important to hold plants in place; without them the plants would fall over!  You don’t have roots - how do you stop yourself from falling over?
• Soil is one of the most precious resources in the world, made up of broken down rocks, and air, water and rotting plant material. It can take 1,000 years to form one-inch of soil. If people grew that slowly it would take
  80,000 years to grow a person!
• Bacteria are not always the baddies! In one gram of soil there can be as many as 2.5 million bacteria, most of which are good.  They help to break down dead leaves and plants to form humus, releasing nutrients for plant roots to suck up from the soil. 
• Look up at a tree and see how big it is.  For most plants and trees there are as many roots under the ground as there are branches in the air!

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