Study of Soil and pH:
Ryan Daly, Ricky Caswell, and Charlie Hutchinson
The purpose of this study was to find the pH in the soil and the composition of the soil in Red Rocks park in South Burlington, Vermont.
Tools:
pH meter
Large and small shovel
mixing cup (not "borrowed" from cafeteria...)
deionized water
hammer
corer
Sampling at one of the sites.
The group took the pH of 12 different sites throughout the park. They looked at organic matter and bedrock in the area and looked at grain sizes at each individual site.
Some more sampling.
Procedure:
First they dug a soil pit about 15 cm in depth.
To test the soil pH they:
Used the small shovel to remove approximately 2 tsp.
Put soil in a mixing cup,
Poured approximately 1/4 cup of deionized water into the mixing cup and swished until they were mixed together
Put the pH meter's sensor in the soil water and waited for a reading to come up on the screen.
Still testing......
To observe composition:
Pinch some soil in your hand and feel and move with tips of fingers, look at soil under a hand lens and decide on soil type.
This is a chart of composition and pH level of each test site.
| Site | Soil Type | Soil pH |
| 1 | sand | 6.7 |
| 2 | silt and clay | 7.1 |
| 3 | silt and clay | 7.2 |
| 4 | silt and clay / sand* | 5.5 / 6.1* |
| 5 | silt and organic matter | 5.9 |
| 6 | organic matter | 7 |
| 7 | organic matter | 4 |
| 8 | silt and organic matter | 6.2 |
| 9 | silt and organic matter | 8.2 |
| 10 | silt and organic matter | 6.1 |
| 11 | muddy silt | 5.2 |
| 12 | muddy silt | 6.1 |
* shows two layers of soil.
Map of tested sites in Red Rock Park.
The soil group found that the reason that the soil pH changed was because of dissolved bedrock in/under the soil and orgainic matter that had rotted and mixed with the soil. When dissolved bed rock and rotted wood/other organic matter combined with the soil it lowers the pH of the soil. In one case organic matter in the soil raised the pH number but the reason is unknown.
Having fun.