We grow and multiply We settle along the rivers We love to bask on the ground From the first spring breaks in the clouds Right up to the onset of winter We consume all the Earth's water We rot the very spots we love best

I carry my home on my back everywhere I go, On land I am slow, but in water I flow. My shell tells my age, like rings on a tree, And I've roamed the earth since before history. What am I?

I am a mixture of sand, silt and clay; With minerals and nutrients and things that decay. So I'm dirt; but I do have and important function. I'm ideal for the gardener and for the walls in construction.

A vector of disease that causes rapid cognitive decline, but also a mainstay of America’s Favorite Pastime.

I am still, but never asleep. Ducks and turtles my company keep. Rain helps me grow, the sun makes me gleam. What am I?