Group members: Fun Wen Yin (8) Tang Bi Feng (19) Qian Yilin (16) Low En Xing (13)
Exploration of how water moves through soil
Differences of type of soil:
Clay
Top soil
Sand
Aim:
-To find out the best type of soil to be used in the sand bags to build the levee (Task 1)
-To find out which of the three sections along the river (A , B or C) should be built first (Task 2)
Task 1:
EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN and PROCEDURE for Task 1 and Task 2
Plan of Experimental Design
(i)What are the factors that affect how much water soil can hold
- amount of soil
-amount of water
- duration of the experiment
(ii)Hypothesis:
- Clay soil is the best type of soil to be used in the sand bags to build the levee
(iii)What are the questions you are investigating:
- which soil can reduce the amount of water dripping into the beaker?
(iv)What are your independent, dependent and constant variables?
- Independent variable: Type of soil
- Dependent variable: Amount of water in the beaker after the experiment
- Constant variable: Mass of the soil, the amount of water poured into the bottle with the soil,
the size of the plastic bottle and duration of experiment.
- What are the assumptions you have made, if any?: We have no assumptions.
b) Procedures
(i) Steps
1)Steps to make Soil-Testing Device
(i) To conduct your experiment, you can make a soil-testing device like the one in the
diagram below.
(ii) Cut the plastic bottle across the middle. Remove the labels and the caps. The bottle top
will hold the soil, and the beaker (or the bottle bottom) will catch the water.
(iii) Position the mesh near the bottle neck so it will keep the soil in the bottle top.
(iv) Rest the bottle top, neck down, on a beaker so that water poured through the soil in the.
bottle top will flow into the beaker
2) Measure 100 grams of each soil
and pour into the soil-testing device.
3) Use measuring cylinder to measure
100 ml of water.
4) Start the stopwatch as you pour the
water from the measuring cylinder
into the soil-testing device slowly.
5) When the time on the stopwatch reaches
1 minute, take away the plastic bottle from the
beaker and place it into a spare container.
6) Pour the water from the beaker into the
measuring cylinder and read the water level
In the measuring cylinder.
7) repeat steps 2-6 one time and find the average water level.
8) Jot down the results.
Measuring instruments used:
-Electronic Balance
-Measuring cylinder
-Beaker
-Stopwatch
RESULTS:
ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION:
Clay: It contains fine particles. It has the capacity to hold water. It doesn't hold air. Therefore it is very heavy in weight.
Sand:It contains large particles. It has large spaces in between them. It can retain water. Therefore it is light in weight.
Top soil : It has less water holding capacity ,which means that it is more porous and it is lighter
Task 2:
3. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN and PROCEDURE for Task 2
Plan of Experimental Design
(i) What are the factors that affect how much water a soil can hold?
-the amount of air spaces in the soil
-how absorbent the soil is
(ii) What is your hypothesis?
-The levee should be build at Section B first.
(iii) What are the questions you are investigating
- What is the time taken for 75 ml of water to drip from the different types of soil?
- How will it slow down the flooding?
(iv) What are your independent, dependent and constant variables?
-Independent variable: type of soil
-Dependent variable:time which the water takes to drip into the beaker reaching a
Certain amount
-Constants: mass of soil, amount of water and side of bottle.
(b)PROCEDURES
Steps:
1) Measure 130 ml of water in a measuring cylinder
2) Slowly pour the water into the soil. Press the stopwatch as you pour the water.
3) Wait for the water to drip to a volume of 75 ml then press the stopwatch
4) Record the time taken for the water to drip to 75 ml in a table.
5) Repeat steps 1 to 4 using the different type of soils.
RESULTS:
5) Analysis and Discussion of Results
( Section A ) Topsoil contains of almost equal amounts of sandy and clay
It can retain less water than clay but can retain more water than sand.
( Section B ) Clay can hold the most amount of water out of the three different types of soil as there are only a few air spaces on between each soil particle.
( Section C ) Sand holds the least amount of water among the three different types of soil as it's soil particles are large with many air spaces in between.
6) Conclusion
The levee should be filled with topsoil (Task 2)
The levee should be built on section B first, given the limitation of time. (Task 2)
7) Areas of Further Research and Study
What are some of the plants that are able to grow in clay/ sand/ garden soil?
- Why can they do so?
8) Reference
http://agverra.com/blog/soil-types/
Duty list
Wen yin:
clay soil experiment (task 1 )
Top soil experiment (task 2)
En xing
top soil experiment (task 1)
Sand experiment (task 2)
Yilin:
Timer
In charge of measuring water
Bi Feng
sand experiment
Clay soil experiment.
In charge of electronic balance.
(ii)Hypothesis:
ReplyDelete- Clay soil is the best type of soil to be used in the sand bags to build the levee
[ Your hypothesis does not show what are the independent and dependent variables, do not use amount, it can means alot of different things like mass, weight or even density]
Can you please ensure that all pictures are uploaded when you submit?