Soil
The importance of soil
Healthy soil gives us clean air and water, crops and productive grazing lands, diverse wildfire, and beautiful South African landscapes. Soil does all this by performing seven essential functions:
- Soil serves as the medium for growing all kinds of plants.
- Soils modify the atmosphere by emitting and absorbing gasses (carbon dioxide, methane, water vapor) and dust.
- Soils provide habitats for animals to live in, from mice to microscopic bacteria.
- Soil hold, release, alter and purify most of the water in terrestrial systems.
- Soils act as a filter to clean water before it moves to underground storage (an aquifer).
- Soils process recycled material, including carbon, so that living things can use them over and over again.
- Soils serve as engineering media for construction of foundations, roadbeds, dams and buildings and preserve artifacts of human history and archaeology.
PRACTICAL RECORDING SHEETS
Practical 1: Soil Composition of our soil sample
Practical 1: Soil Composition of our soil sample
AIM:
To observe and interpret the composition of sand, clay and silt particles in your sample of soil
INSTRUCTIONS:
· Work out the soil composition of the soil that you wish to use in your Window Gardens. Refer to soil practical 1.
Upload your results, observations and interpretations onto your blog.
Upload your results, observations and interpretations onto your blog.
Results:
Test Tube :
a) Sand layer thickness = 1.2 cm
b) Clay layer thickness = 0.9 cm
c) Silt layer thickness = 2.2 cm
d) Other = ____________cm
OBSERVATIONS AND INTERPRETATIONS:
1. Take a photo of your soil composition and upload onto your blog.
2. What have you discovered about the composition of your soil?
I have discovered that there is a big layer of silt and little clay and sand layers. Clay has the smallest layer. I have discovered that the sample in the experiment is garden soil.
3. What is the importance of air and humus content in your soil?
The humus gives your soil structure. It makes spaces between the soil particles, to hold air, water and nutrients. Humus acts like a sponge, absorbing moisture in droughts. Humus holds soil particles together. Air helps plants and animals in the soil to breathe/respire.
4. What does the air and humus content mean for the plants your Window Garden?
You want to have soil in our window garden, that has a high content of air and humus in it. This means that the window garden will be more self-sustainable, because air and water will be stored in the soil.
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Practical 2: Soil Classification and Texture of our soil
AIM:
To classify the type of soil you are going to use for your window farm and get a better idea of its texture and particle size.
INSTRUCTIONS:
· Help classify your soil by feeling its texture and noting the particle sizes. Refer to soil practical 2.
· Upload your observations and interpretations onto your blog.
OBSERVATIONS AND INTERPRETATIONS:
1. Describe the texture of your soil samples?
The soil felt soft and relatively smooth in my hand with a slight bit of stones
2. How would you classify your soil sample1 and 2
I would classify it as Silt Loam
3. Explain the relationship between soil texture and soil water retention?
The water that was present the softer the soil would feel.
4. What does this information about your soil texture mean for your window gardens?
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Practical 3: Determining the water retention capacity of your soil.
Questions:
- Upload your observations and interpretations onto your blog.
Soil sample
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Mass of soil (cm3
or g)
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Amount of water that drained into glass beaker (ml)
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Amount of water retained by the soil (ml)
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1
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100g
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100ml
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31
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2
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100g
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100ml
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32
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- Which soil sample retained more water? How much more did it retain?
- Which soil sample retained less water?
3. Can you explain why there may be differences in water content between the two soil samples?
The pores between the particles in the soil of sample 1 are bigger, so the water moved through the soil faster. Sample 1 is a sandy soil. Sample 1 contains a lot of air. Sample 2 has a high content of humus in the soil.
- Do you think that a high level of water retention in a soil is likely to be beneficial or harmful to plants growing in that soil? Suggest a reason.
It depends of the type of plant used to grow in that soil. Plants are adapted to grow in different types of soil. If the plants are over-watered, or under-watered, they may not grow, or could even die.
- What advantage would soil with a high amount of organic matter have over soil with a low amount of organic matter, as suggested by the results of this experiment?
The differences in the amount of sand and rocks will probably affect why water is allowed to pass through some soil and not other types. I believe it would be beneficial to the growth as more water means that the nutrients can be nurtured better and that the plants will be able to grow better. If soil has high amounts of organic matter it is better for a plant to grow as organic matter has more nutrient that plants need to grow. Organic matter retains nutrients and water in the soil. It also keeps the soil aerated and prevents the soil from getting too compacted.
6. What value is there in knowing the water content of your soil in your window
garden?
Some types of soil will retain more water than other types of soil will retain. Our soil was very sandy which meant that the water flowed more freely. This would not have happened if we had had more rocks.
It allows us to choose what soil we need to get the best results out of our window garden. Other groups projects retained much more water than ours. This implies that their soil was not very sandy and more rocky. It helps you to choose the right soil type for the plants you are wanting to plant, and ensures that you don't over/under water your plants.  |
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CONCLUSION:
Can you identify your soil types based on the evidence of the experimental results?
Sample 1 is sandy soil
Sample 2 is loamy soil
Sample 2 is loamy soil
What can you conclude about the different soil type’s water retention capacities?
Will the Soil Suite our Window Garden?
No, because most of the water is not retained by the soil. It flowed straight through the soil sample. This means that a person in the group would have to water the plants everyday, rather than every week. The texture was too hard, so the plants won't grow well in the soil. The root system of the plants is too weak to penetrate the soil. Therefore the plant won't be sufficiently stabilized. The soil does not have a lot of Humus in it. This means that the soil structure will be bad. The water will evaporate quickly, if the soil doesn't have enough Humus - which acts like a sponge.
James Elliott - everyone has contributed sufficiently to the blog. Everyone is busy doing a part of the blog, in class. Roles have been allocated to each member, to ensure all requirements are met. While one person was taking photos, the other person was doing the practical, and writing down the results.
Abdul Maalik Kerbelker - Everyone has put in a considerable amount of effort into the the blog and building of the window garden. We allocated more than one person towards the blog making it easier to complete the blog in time while still being ahead of the building process. This shows that we work efficiently and with good teamwork. Overall I get along well with the members of the group and this in my opinion is the reason we are succeeding in our tasks.
James Clarke- I feel that everyone worked well together. We divided the work so as someone was always doing something. For example 3 of us would work on building the project and one of us would stay behind and work on our blog. I believe that this style of worked has proved itself to be very efficient.
Josh Carnell - I feel that the group worked very well together because every time someone had an idea we tried it out to see if it would work and then us as a team would look at all the ideas and then choose the best one. I also feel that the way we shared the work out was very good because no one did to much work and no one did to little work.
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