How does your own state soil compare with the ones you analyzed?

Every state in the U.S. has designated a representative soil. You can access photographs, descriptions, and other data about your state's soil. Click here to access the list of state soils, then explore the photograph and description of your state's designated soil.

8. Go to the Web site for your state soil and estimate the depth of the topsoil.

You can also find out the average annual precipitation for your state. Click here to access a list of states. Click on your state abbreviation in the list, then click the GIF image at the top of the list. Use the map to estimate the average precipitation at the location of your state soil.

9. Go to the Web site for the United States precipitation map and find the average annual precipitation in your state.

10. Plot the point for your state on the graph of topsoil depth versus precipitation. How does your state's soil compare to the others?

11. Do average precipitation amounts appear to be related to the depth of topsoil in an area? If so, describe how. If you see no evidence for the relationship, suggest another factor you could plot versus topsoil depth to look for a relationship.