Identify the soil types in your locality. Equipment lists and instructions are given for the five tasks listed. Sample results tables are also given. Results will be recorded into copies, and presentation can be in poster format.
This is a group task.
WE MUST: z„
z„
Extract soil samples from three different sites. Carry out Task 1 and 2, plus one other task, to determine the soil type of our samples.
Task 1: Examine the vegetation of your three chosen sites. Task 2: Examine the texture of the three soil samples. Task 3: Examine the humus content of one soil sample. Task 4: Measure the moisture and air content of one soil sample. Task 5: Measure the permeability of one soil sample.
z„ Create a a poster describing and naming the type(s) of soil in your area. WE SHOULD:
Carry out one further experiment on each of the three samples to help determine soil type.
WE COULD:
Taking precautions and under supervision, extract a soil sample from a peatland/bog area and study it using Tasks 3, 4 or 5.
Choosing Suitable Sites and Extracting Samples First you need to choose three sites to extract soil samples.
Choosing your sites z„
Study the weather in the days leading up to taking your soil samples. Avoid taking your samples after long periods of rain, as the soil may be flooded, which will give you a false profile. To this end, download a weather app on your phone and monitor the weather for the week ahead.
z„ z„
Choose sites that have grass or plant cover.
Identify three contrasting soil profile sites from which to take your samples. Site A could be a garden, Site B could be a forest and Site C could be a coastal/river area.
z„
Use a metre tape/stick to map out a two-metre-square area in each of these three sites from which to take your samples.
232 Resource:
A helpful website to refer to in relation to soil surveys in Ireland is Teagasc’s
