Tommy and Teagan Are Learning the Process of Good Home

Tommy and Teagan are learning the process of good home gardening and decide to help their parents as best as they can. Every day they walk along rows of bean plants, carefully inspecting each plant for insects, and removing any that they find. However, the bean plants do not grow well, and few beans form. Their parents notice the poor beans, inspect the plants and soil, and tell the children that walking around the plants every day has hurt the plants by _______________

A) contaminating the soil with toxins leaching from their shoes
B) reducing the nutrient minerals in the soil
C) converting the topsoil into clay
D) increasing soil aeration and killing soil microorganisms
E) compacting the soil, decreasing aeration and infiltration