Payal's conclusion

Throughout this month long experiment, I learned how much soil really matters. I learned how much work goes into growing certain crops and figuring out what is needed for each different type of crop. Through this experience I realized how dynamic soil can be and how much goes into soil.  I realized that there is different type of soil need for different types of crops. I never knew that pH and the amount of phosphorus, nitrogen and potassium had to be known to grow a certain type of crop. There is a lot of experimentation that goes into specializing soil for a certain crop. I think what others should know about soil is that in reality, soil is a very important thing. It is not just "dirt" that you step on and toss around. I think people should know that soil is the reason we have food, and that soil does a lot for humans. This experiment really shed some light on how important soil is and how much hard work goes into specializing soil for each different crop.

Controlled Expirment

Although we were supposed to plant lettuce seeds, instead by mistake we added bean seeds. The first week after we planted the seeds, there had been no change. Every day we would look at our control cup and variable cup and neither of them had any sprouting. Each day we added about 10 mL more water and then on the following Monday we added about 30 mL more water. Then when we went back to check our cups on Wednesday our beans had sprouted and grown. The growth rate of the "variable" cup, which had the remediation done to it, was a bit larger than the growth rate of the control cup. We know this because the plant in the variable cup was larger, meaning it had grown quicker. Also the variable cup had a darker green color than the control cup plant. They both had the same number of leaves: 4. The survival rate was higher for the variable cup because by Friday the crop in the control cup had began dying.

variable cup (remediated) on the last day

(control cup) on the last day

Remediation

Because we had a pH of 8 we added a couple drops of the acidifier to neutralize the soil because through the pH test we found out that we had a pH of 8 and wanted the soil to be more acidic to be able to support the seeds better. We also added some inorganic fertilizer because our soil did not consist of any living organisms. We also added 30 mL of water because although our soil was extremely moist and had water, we found out that for the type of plant we were making, our soil had to consist of mainly water. The expected outcome of our remediation procedure is that our seeds will sprout and grow without any issues.

*Richy adding water to our remediated soil*

Salinization Lab

Seven bags were made with five beans in each.  The bags contained 0g of salt, .5g, 1g, 2g, 3g, 4g, or 5g. The bags had a paper towel folded inside of them, wet with the salt solution.  The seeds were watched for five day to see if they would sprout or not.  Here are the results after five days:

The 0g solution had two beans sprout.

The .5g solution had no beans sprout.

The 1g solution had no beans sprout.

The 3g solution had no beans sprout.

The 4g solution had no beans sprout.

The 5g solution had no beans sprout.

The only beans that grew had no salt in their solution.  This concludes that beans cannot grow in soil with a salt content.  

Percent Organic Matter

We put our soil in a drying over over night that was between 90 and 95 degrees. The next day we filled 3/4 of a crucible and put it on a ring stand the next day and heated it for 30 minutes. After we shut off the burner and allowed the crucible to cool we recorded the mass. The mass of the soil before heating it was 6.7 grams and after the 30 minutes the soil was about 4.3 grams. This means that our soil had 2.4 grams of organic matter. We found that by subtracting 4.3 from 6.7. It is not necessary to measure the mass of the soil alone because the weight of the crucible will not change depending on heat. It will still stay the same. Three reasons why it is important to have organic materials in soil is because it improves soil structure, it increases water holding capacity and it holds organisms.

Soil Fertility Analysis

We did the pH test by filling our test tube with a pH indicator. Then we added three spoons of our soil (.50 grams each). We then mixed the test tube for a minute and allowed it to sit for ten minutes. Then we matched the color of our soil with the pH Color Chart. Our soil's pH was 8. Then we did a Nitrogen test by filling the test tube with nitrogen extracting solution Then we put two spoons mixed it for a minute,removed the cap and waited for the soil to settle. Then we used a piper to transfer the clear liquid in our test tube to another clean test tube. Then we added two spoons of nitrogen indicator power to the clear liquid and mixed it. After we waited a while we were able to see our soil had nitrogen. We did the same steps for phosphorus and potassium except we used a different indicator and color chart for each.

We had low nitrogen, our potassium and phosphorus were high. The idea pH range for the plants to grow are about 6.5. Yes the plants seemed  healthy, this is because we had a good amount of nutrients and our pH was almost perfect meaning the plants growing and that soil should be healthy.

Burlese Funnel Test

In this lab, we made a large funnel using a 2 liter bottle.  We put ethanol in the bottom of the bottle and filled the top funnel part with soil.  A heat lamp was placed above the soil to drive organisms down into the ethanol.  The ethanol was then studied to count and draw the organisms within it.  

Our ethanol had no organisms in it

Soil Dry Percolation Rate Test

In this lab we made a funnel of soil, sand, and clay. Each funnel then had water poured into it until water started leaking out the bottom.  The leaking was timed and the results were 44.5 seconds for the clay, 30.2 seconds for sand, and 27.2 seconds for the soil.  The measurements of the water that dripped through each funnel was 10.6 ml for the clay, 12.3 ml for the sand, and 9.4 ml for the soil.  If each sample was given the same amount of time, the clay would have let the least water through, and the sand would have let the most through.

Soil Moisture Test

The wet soil weighs 29.9 grams.

The dry soil weighs 6.7 grams.

In this lab we measured out a soil sample into a foil weigh boat and put it in a drier.  the next day we removed the sample of soil and weighed it again.  To determine the percent water of the sample we did 29.9 minus 6.7 which equals 23.2.  Then, we did 23.2 divided by 29.9 which equals .7759.  Lastly, we times .7759 by 100 which equals 77.59%.  The soil sample is mostly made of clay which is consistent with a lot of moisture.  Soil texture and moisture are correlated.  Sandy soil is drier, clay soil is wetter, and silt soil is in between.  

Soil Texture Test Quantitative

In this lab we put 60-70 mL of soil and added water to cover the soil completely. Then we let it sit for 24 hours. The next day after all the layers were settled out we measured the height  of each layer. We had 5cm of clay, 3 cm of silt and 2 cm of sand in our sample. Our sample was a total of 10 cm.

How we calculated:

clay: 5/10 = x/ 100 = 50% clay

Silt: 3/10 = x/100 = 30% silt

Sand: 2/10= x/100 = 20% sand

Using the triangle we were able to determine that we had silty clay.

The answer from this section is the same answer we got in the qualitative method. Except we thought it was just clay not silty clay. Yes our soil type was consistent with our percolation test results. This is because we got 44.9 % clay and 30% sand meaning our soil has mainly clay in it.

Introduction

In this blog we will be talking about soil. The major components of soil are sand, clay and silt. Many people wonder what the difference between dirt and soil is. Dirt is actually displaced soil. Also the texture and structure is different. Soil is made up of organic material and broken down rock. When certain things decompose and rocks break down, soil may be formed from the material that is left over. The color of soil also matters. The color of soil tells us the amount of organic matter present. Structure and Ph can tell you how easily plants can take up nutrients from the soil. Typical soil looks in our area looks brown and crusty.  Around 5% of Lake Zurich soil is organic matter. In Hawaii, the soil  is 5% organic matter. In Georgia the amount of organic matter is 2% . Arizona has an organic matter percentage of about 1%. The more organic matter the richer and better for faming it is. Farmers  should be interested in soil analysis because  they can tell if their crops will survive in a certain place. Economic benefits of soil analysis include saving money on fertilizers and improving the economy by having the ability to grow more crops. Social benefits of soil analysis include more crops and also so people know where they can grow crops and where it grows the best.

Soil

There is a small forest behind the park by my house. I went to the park and dug into it a bit and then dug out soil. The soil was very thick and moist.
The abiotic factors in the soil were leaves and tree branches. There was also some grass laying on the soil. Biotic factors were worms on the soil. There was various particle sizes throughout the soil. Some extremely thick and some very tiny. There was a walkway about 15 feet away so that may cause a difference in the soil, also there are a lot of trees which changes the soil. 

Soil Texture Test - Qualitative Test

In this portion we took a small sample of soil and rolled it into a ball and felt the soil. The type of soil we had was mostly clay. I know this because it felt sticky and I was able to squeeze it into a ball and after adding a bit more water, a ribbon. It also did not feel gritty and was not falling apart which was how I knew it wasnt  sand or silt.

Soil Porosity

The porosity of our soil was figured out through pouring water into our soil until there was a pull of water at the top of the beaker as seen in the picture above. Once the pool of water formed above the soil in the beaker, the amount of water left in the graduated cylinder was measured. The amount of water remaining was 25 mL.

The porosity as a percent was then measured by putting the pore space over the volume of the dry soil. The porosity ended up being 22.5 %.