Procedure

 

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MATERIALS:

 

  • Balance (g)
  • 6 plastic bags or containers per day for the soil samples
  • 1 Oven
  • 20 Flags (or something to mark each plots with)
  • 20 L containers to fill with water per day.
  • 1 Chemical test kit for iron and pH
  • 6 Soil Coil Samplers per day - (15cm long by a diameter of 2.5)
  • 1 Rubber Mallet

 

 

 

1. Choose 2 places to take soil core samples (one should have very wet soil which could be marshy or swampy and the other very dry soil.)
Wet Soil Dry Soil
2.  Mark an area in the wet site that is 1/2 m2--this is going to serve as the positive control
3. Take one soil core sample in the wet site using the soil core extractor (this tool should be 15cm long and have a diameter of 2.5cm). Put this soil into a labeled bag
4. Go to a dry site and mark out five areas next to each other in a line. Each of the areas needs to be 1/2 m2

 
5. Label the flags on the first plot 0L, the second plot 2L, the third plot 4L, the fourth plot 6L, and the fifth plot 8L

 
6. Take a soil core sample from each plot using the extractor tool and then place each sample in its corresponding bag

           

7. After taking the samples of the dry soil, add 2L of water to the second plot, 4L of water to the third plot, 6L of water to the fourth plot, and 8L of water to the fifth plot

           

8. In the lab, use the chemical test of your choice to determine the amount of iron in each sample. Also test for the amount of pH

                    

 
9. Next, weigh each sample in its plastic bag in order to determine the mass of the soil (remember to subtract the mass of the bag)
10. Bake the soil samples at 230 degrees C for a minimum of 1 hour
11. After the soil samples are finished baking, re-mass each sample

 
12. Now, subtract the new mass from the old mass to determine the amount of water that was in the soil.

To find the proportion of water, determine the percent change in mass by using the following formula:

[(original soil mass - dehydrated soil mass) รท dehydrated soil mass]x100 = percent change in mass

 
13. Take new samples daily from each plot using the soil core sampler before adding the appropriate amounts of water to the respective plots. The process of taking samples and adding the respective amounts of water should be repeated every 24 hours at least three times