This is a close up photo of a recently poured slab for a garage on our residential site. In order for your slab to be correctly constructed, a few proper steps must take place. The earth which you are pouring your slab should be tamped, or compacted, so that your sand and gravel bed has a flat surface to sit on. Next, gravel is brought on site and leveled out in the area that the concrete will be poured. The gravel is normally 4" thick. After the gravel has been spread out, a moisture retardant is laid on top. The moisture retardant keeps water from the soil coming up into the slab. If moisture has prolonged exposure to the concrete, it can cause serious problems with the integrity of your slab.
This photo shows the gravel bed, moisture barrier(in yellow) and wire mesh(rebar) in preparation for a slab pour. Once all the components have been properly put into place, a chalk line is used to mark the height of where the concrete is to be poured. In this photo, the chalk line is just above the waterproofed lumber. You can see the chalk line the best in-between the two CMU blocks.
If a slab is being poured where an opening is, such as a garage, there needs to be a mechanism set up so that the concrete doesn't leave the area that it is supposed to. Every time I have seen this done, a piece of lumber is screwed into a metal form. The lumber acts as a barrier to keep the concrete from flowing out of the intended area. On the back of the form, there is a place where you can drive a stake into the ground in order to hold the form in place. Below is a photo that better explains what the form looks like.
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