PART 1 Calculate and record the percent sand, silt and clay in the soil sample Clay: .

5% Silt: 39.5% Sand: 60% Use the soil textural triangle to determine the texture of the soil sample: Sandy Loam PART 2 Postlab QuestionsWrite out and respond to the following questions. 1. Use the soil triangle to determine the type of soils with the following particle sizes a. 10% silt, 15% clay, 65% sand Sandy Loam b. 25% sand, 15% clay, 60% silt Silt Loam c. 20% silt, 50% sand, 30% clay Sandy Clay d. 30% clay, 30% sand, 40% silt Clay Loam e. 60% clay, 15% sand, 25% silt Clay f. 40% sand, 10% silt, 50% clay Clay 2. List and describe three ways in which soil pH affects an ecosystem. Affects plant growth some plants can only survive in pH levels close to 7 Plants that are able to survive in low pH can dominate land around them; some plants may be unwanted but are only ones that grow. Decrease of bacteria loss of decomposition & nutrient release. 3. What types of vegetation does soil of the type and pH you sampled best support? We would be able to support grass depending on the pH level that we got. 4. What would be the ideal type and pH of soil to have around a home? Loam, pH at 6.0-7.5 5. What would be the ideal type and pH of soil for agriculture? 6. How do farmers adjust the pH of soils? Sulfur or Limestone is being submerged into the soil to neutralize. PART 3 A. Using the method described above, try to classify your soil as mostly sand, mostly silt or mostly clay. How did you classify your soil based on this by hand method? What lead you to this conclusion?

Our soul turned out to be more sandy then anything else. We classified our soil based on its sandiness. We came with this conclusion by rubbing the soil between our fingers and it felt sandier like. B. Now use the dichotomous key to classify your soil. What soil texture would you classify your sample based on this method? We classified our soil as Sandy Loam. C. Do it again with the flow diagram- how would you classify your soil now? Our predicament was correct and our soil is Sandy Loam D. Did your answers to all of the methods agree with each other? Why or why not? Yes, we used the "by hand" method, the dichotomous key, and the flow diagram and each resulted that the soil in which we used throughout this lab was Sandy Loam.