Ashford ECE 101 – Laboratory Exercise 1 Soil Porosity

11 Jun Ashford ECE 101 – Laboratory Exercise 1 Soil Porosity

uestion
Laboratory Exercise 1: Soil Porosity

POST LAB QUESTIONS

Use the Week Four Assignment instructions to complete the Laboratory Exercises One through Three. Then complete Tables One through Three and answer the post-lab questions below. When you complete the tables, be sure to add the unit of measurement after each numerical entry, including ml, pp, or mg/l. Use your data to answer the questions and be sure to cite the data within the responses to support your points.

#1 Example: “Soil D was the most porous in this study because it had a 68% porosity, whereas Soil E was the least porous at 43% porosity (Table1).”

Table2:Soil Sample Porosity Data

Table 1: Soil Sample Porosity Data

Soil Sample Initial Water Volume Final Water Volume Porosity(%)

A 50mL 44 mL 12%

B 50mL 43 mL 14%

C 50mL 39 mL 22%

1. Which soil is the most porous?Which is the least porous? Explain your answers using data from your experiment.

2. What do your results indicate about the composition of each soil sample?

3. Which soil porosity is best for growing plants? Explain why.

Laboratory Exercise 2: Chemical Properties of Soil

POST LAB QUESTIONS

Table 2: Soil Test Results

Soil Nitrogen Phosphorus Potassium pH

A

B

C

Sample Dlocation:

Sample Elocation:

Sample Flocation:

Table 3: Observations of lettuce Seed Germination in Varying Soils

Dayand Properties Soil A Soil B Soil C

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Soil Texture

Soil Color

Additional Observations

1. State the general roles of pH, nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium in the plant functions of germination, growth, and flowering. Use one credible resource from the Ashford library to develop your answer. Cite the source here and in the Reference Section Below.

Nitrogen =

Phosphorous =

Potassium =

pH =

2. Based on what you have learned about the roles of pH, nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium in supporting plant functions, predict which soil will be best for germination in this study.

3. Which soil sample resulted in the fastest seed germination? Which sample resulted in the most seeds germinated?Do these results support your prediction? Cite your data from Tables 3 and 4 as part of your explanation.

4. Provide two reasons explaining why farmers rotate their crops.

5. Explain whether the type of plant determines which type of soil is “best”?Why or why not?

Laboratory Exercise 3: Soil Contamination

POST LAB QUESTIONS

1. How did the color of the filtrate compare to the color of the unfiltered Kool-Aid™ solution? State which samples are experimental and which are the control.

2. Which soil characteristics make soil an effective filter? Do these same characteristics make soil good for plant

growth?Use your results from all three exercises to support your explanation.

3. Describe how the contamination would impact soil porosity, chemical and physical properties, and soil fertility.

4. Explain how soil contaminants can move through an ecosystem. Use one credible resource from the Ashford library to develop your response.

References

Any sources used should be listed here in APA format.