Natural Sciences and Technology Grade 5-B ... - Thunderbolt Kids

The topsoil has gone from this land, and the farmer can
never grow food here again. 5
Even if the farmer stops the erosion, it will be about 1000 years
before nature can make new topsoil to replace the soil that has
gone.
If there is too little top-soil, then there will be too few plants for
animals to eat. So all animals depend on the top-soil, even animals
like lions that only eat meat.
QUESTIONS
We can say that lions depend on top-soil for their food,
although they do not eat top-soil. Why do lions depend on
the top-soil for their food? Explain your answer. Hint: Think
back to what you learned in the first term in Life and Living
about food chains.
Lions eat other animals, such as impala, zebra, girae, etc.
these animals are herbivores which eat grass and other plants.
The plants that these animals eat need topsoil to grow in. So
the lions are indirectly dependent on topsoil by their feeding
relationships.
2.3 Soil types
Have you ever noticed how many dierent colours of soil and
textures of soil there are? Even if you are just walking around your
school ground, you may come across many dierent types of soil.
108 Earth and Beyond