Soil Project Report

Exploration of how water moves through soil

Introduction & Aim

Difference in types of soil:

1. Clay- Has the smallest particles among the 3 soils and clumps together, allow little air to pass through, poor oxygen supply.
2. Sand- Has the largest particles among the 3 soils and big air spaces, good oxygen supply.
3. Topsoil: Has medium-sized particles.

Aim: To find out which type of soil, clay, sand, or topsoil, is most suitable to control the flooding and slow down the rate of flooding.

Experimental Design & Procedure

Apparatus needed(for Task 1 & Task 2): 400g of each type of soil(sand, topsoil and clay soil), 3 soil testing devices*, 3 pieces of fine mesh, 3 beakers, 3 measuring cylinders, electronic balance, stopwatch.

*Soil testing device: Cut a 1.5 litre bottle into half and use the bottle top to hold the soil. A beaker will be placed below to catch the water.

Task 1

Hypothesis: Clay is the best type of soil to be used in the sandbags to build the levee.

Dependant variable: The amount of water that is able to pass through the soil.

Independent variable: Type of soil used

Constant variables: mass of soil used, the volume of water used

Procedure:

1. Measure 150g of 1 type of soil and pour it into the bottle top with the mesh at the bottom. Put the bottle top over a beaker.

2. Measure 150ml of water and pour it onto the soil.

3. After 2 minutes, measure the amount of water in the beaker using a measuring cylinder

4. Record down the data in a table.

5. Repeat steps 1-4 with the other 2 types of soil.

6. Repeat the experiment again.

Task 2

Hypothesis: Section B(clay)should be built first.

Dependent variable: The time taken for the water that passed through each soil to reach 30ml.

Independent variable: Type of soil used

Constant variables: mass of soil used, the volume of water used

Procedure:

1. Measure 150g of 1 type of soil and pour it into the bottle top with the wire mesh at the bottom. Put the bottle top over the beaker.

2. Measure 150ml of water and pour it onto the soil

3. Use a stopwatch to time the time taken for the water to pass through the soil and reach 30ml.

4. Record the data down in a table

5. Repeat steps 1-4 with the other 2 types of soil.

6. Repeat the experiment again.

Results

Task 1:

Type of Soil	Amount of water collected in 1st trial/ml	Amount of water collected in 2nd trial/ml
Clay	100	92
Sand	106	108
Topsoil	94	88

Task 2:

Type of Soil	Time taken for 30ml of water to be collected in 1st trial/s	Time taken for 30ml of water to be collected in 2nd trial/s
Clay	9	7
Sand	5	6
Topsoil	20	11

Analysis and Discussion of results

Topsoil is the best soil to control and slow down the flooding because it absorbs the the most water among the 3 types of soil. Although it does not have the smallest and least air spaces, our results shows that it allows the least water to pass through. For the sand, a lot of water could pass through as it had a lot of air spaces. The clay is unable slow down the rate of the flooding successfully as it has problems absorbing water because of its thickness.

Conclusion

Task 1

The best type of soil to be used in the sandbags to build the levee is topsoil.

Task 2

The levee should be built at Section A first.

Areas for Further Research and Study

Suggestions to improve the experiment:

-Average readings should have been found to make the results more accurate and reliable.

-3 trials should be done instead of 2.

Duty list & acknowledgement

Ava: Leader

Fitrina: Material manager

Faith: Note-taker/Data collector

Tong Xin: Timer