Part 2 - Soil Texture Procedure

1. Obtain the jars you will be using. Label your jar with your date, field number, test type and initials.

2. Out of the two bags collected from the area. Choose one bag from each spot you got the soil from. Starting with you first spot pour half of the contents into the labeled glass jar with your groups initials

1. 1. Add ⅛ of Meyer’s Clean Day Dish Soap to the glass jar container containing your soil sample

   2. Now add water up to the lip of the glass jar containing your soi sample

   3. Secure the lid on the glass jar

   4. Set timer for five minutes and shake your jar for the set amount of time.

   5. Allow the jar to sit, undisturbed, for at least 24 hours.

   6. At the end of the 24 hours measure the total depth of your soil with a ruler. You may want to use a flashlight to illuminate the layers

   7. Next measure the thickness of the sand settled (bottom layer)

   8. Now measure the thickness the settled silt (Middle layer)

   9. Subtract the sand and silt depths from the total sample depth to find the depth of of the settled clay.

2. ( Total soil - sand layer- silt layer = clay layer)

  12. Calculate the percentage of each layer

( Ex. % sand = sand layer/total soil x 100)

  13. Use the soil triangle to find the textural class of your soil.

Part 3- Soil Chemistry

Followed procedure from “student procedure” investigation: soil chemistry from peggy notebaert nature museum.