TROUBLESHOOTING  TROUBLESHOOTING  TROUBLESHOOTING

Lab Work:

1)  Always wear goggles and gloves while working with chemicals.

2) Alert adults and wash off table immediately whenever there are chemical spills

3) Whenever there is broken glass, make sure to tell an adult and sweep up the shards.

4) Use a chemical testing kit to help with the potassium testing.  For our testing, we used Lamotte. If you would like to use lamotte as well, click here:http://www.lamotte.com/

5)Before beginning a test, make sure all your data tables are made. Make three columns; the first titled 'soil sample', the second titled 'amount of K (lb/acre)', and the third titled 'amount of K (ppm)'. Always convert the lb/acre to ppm to be scientific.

6)  After each extraction, wash the bottle and throw away the filter, to avoid contamination.

7) Wash all test tubes and pipets after every use, to avoid contamination.

8) Label all tubes clearly to avoid confusion.

9) If any chemicals get on your skin or eyes, alert an adult and wash off IMMEDIATELY.

10) Always clean up your lab station after every set of tests.

Outside:

1) When an instrument touches soil, wash it before reusing it to avoid contamination.

2) Wear appropriate clothing and bring the right gear and bug spray for your location.

 3)Label everything with a sharpie, in case of rain or other disasters

4)Always tell someone where you are, and have a walkie talkie or a responsible adult nearby.

5) Make sure there are no poison ivy or any other dangerous plants in your area.

6)Make sure you have an equal number of bags in all the different sections of plant density, INCLUDING negative control.