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Purpose
The purpose of this experiment was to compare the kinds of soil in Pierce
County versus Yakima County.
My family likes to garden and when we dig we find different kinds of
soil. I chose to make a science project to help my family and others who
garden.
The information gained from this experiment will help people who farm
to choose what type of soil to look for when buying property. It couild
also help gardeners decide which part of their property to use growing
crops.
Hypothesis
My hypothesis is that the soil in Yakima County will have a higher liklihood
of being loam soil than in Pierce County.
I base my hypothesis on my observations that a lot of crops grow better
in Yakima County than in Pierce County and the crops in Yakima County produce
higher levels than in Pierce County.
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Experiment Design
The constants in this study were:
1. The amount of soil collected in each sample
2. The number of areas sampled in each county
3. The sampling technique
The manipulated variable was the place I got the soil.
The responding variable was the type of soil.
To measure the responding variable I need to get a quart sized jar to
get the same measurements on any other jars.
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Materials
| Quantity |
Item Description |
| 8 |
Quart Jars |
| 8 |
Labels |
| 2 |
Shovels |
| 1 |
Journal Log |
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Procedures
1. Plan a trip to the Pierce County with your parents
2. When you get to the county, find a city that is in the county
3. Find a place that you can easily find soil to sample, like a park
where the soil is fairly undisturbed
4. Take a quart jar (4 cups) and fill it with soil from the city
5. As soon as you are done, put a label on it saying "Pierce County,
(the city)
6. Put the jar in a safe place where you can find it when you need
it
7. Repeat 2,3,4,5, and 6 until four cities are sampled from that county
8. On the computer or in a notebook, make a log of the soil
9. Before you write anything in the log, examine the soil in the quart
jars
10. In the log, write the city of where you sampled the soil and then
write what type of soil that is in the jar
11. Repeat #10 until all the jars are in the log
12. To make sure that your samples are correct, test the sample again.
13. Make sure you write in your log that you resampled a city
14. Repeat #1-13 for sampling Yakima County
15. Instead of labeling the jars "Pierce County," label the jars "Yakima
County, (the city)"
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Results
The original purpose of this experiment was to take samples of soil
from both Yakima County and Pierce County and to see if the soil in Yakima
County was a better soil than Pierce County. This experiment was also to
determine what county out of the two counties has the best soil to grow
crops in.
The results of the experiment were that Yakima Countys sampled cities
were all loam. Pierce Countys cities were mostly sandy loam and sandy
soil. Since loam soil helps crops to grow the best, Yakima County has the
best soil to grow crops in.
See graph below.
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Conclusion
My hypothesis was that Yakima County would have the best soil to grow
crops in.
The results indicate that this hypothesis should be accepted because
in the experiment samples from Yakima County had all loam soil. Loam soil
is the best soil to use to grow crops in. Yakima County had the best soil
to grow crops in.
Because of the results of this experiment, I wonder if all of eastern
Washington has loam soil. I wonder if Idaho has loam soil. I wonder if
Pierce County has any city that has loam soil in it. I wonder if all of
western Washington has sandy soil like Pierce County.
If I were to conduct this project again I would make sure that I had
a standardized known soil sample with me to really determine if that city
had that kind of soil. I would like to sample more cities in the county.
I would like to try to have several samples from each city. If I were to
conduct this project again I would make sure to try to have more counties
from eastern and western Washington to sample.
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| Research Report
INTRODUCTION
Soil is an important part of the environment. There are a variety
of different soil types. Different areas often have different types of
soil. Pierce County and Yakima County in Washington State have unique patterns
of soil types. Soil types affect the variety and quality of the crops that
can grow in these areas.
Soil Types
People use many different names to describe soil types, for example
Non-acid loam soil or sandy soil. People may call the same soil type by
different names.
The three most commonly used soil names are very simple. They
are sand soil, loam soil, and clay soil. Sandy soil is the least dense
soil. Loam soil is the soil that crops can grow best in. It is made up
of sandy soil and clay soil. Clay soil is the densest soil because of the
small size of non-living particles.
Some people are more specific and call soil by scientific names.
For example, scientists use entisol soil for when it is mostly found in
a river valley. Vertisol soil is found in grasslands in seasonally dry
seasons. Inceptisol soil is found worldwide and found mostly in mountain
areas. Aridisol soil is also found worldwide and mostly found in desert
areas.
There are a lot more scientific names for soil. Mollisol soil
is mostly found in the Great Plains, Argentine Pampas, and the Russian
Steppes. Spodosol soil is mostly found in the northern forests of Europe
and North America. Alfisol soil is soil that is found in humid temperatures
in the regions of North America and Europe. Ultisol soil is found in the
humid subtropics like the southeastern United States and India. Oxisol
soil is found in the humid tropics like the Amazon and the Congo Basin.
Histosol soil is found in wet areas and in both cold and warm temperatures.
The soil will be cold in a bog and warm in a swamp.
PIERCE COUNTY
Pierce County has a special location, geography and climate.
Pierce County is located in western Washington. Thurston County and King
County are some counties that are next to this county. Some of the major
cities are Puyallup and Fife. Pierce County is at the base of Puget Sound
and the Cascade Mountains.
The geography of Pierce County is in a forested area. Pierce
County is next to Mount Rainier. There are many rivers that run through
it. For example, the Puyallup runs through Pierce County. It runs right
through the middle of the County.
The weather of Pierce County is usually overcast. It usually
has very little snow. It rains most of the time. Each year it rains from
16-23 inches. The growing season is from March 15th to November 1st or
from the last freeze to the first freeze.
Yakima County
Yakima County has a unique location, geography and weather. Yakima
County is located in eastern Washington. Kittitas County and Benton County
are next to Yakima County. Some of the major cities are Yakima, Wapato,
and Selah. Its location between the Cascade Range and the Columbia River
makes it have an interesting geography.
The geography of Yakima County is made up of desert areas and
a wide river valley. The desert areas are arid and covered with sagebrush.
The river valley is more green and fertile due to the available water supply
along the river. A lot of the valley land is irrigated farmland. The elevation
of Yakima County is 1000 feet above sea level. The geography of the land
can affect the weather pattern.
SUMMARY
Soil is an important piece of the environment and everybody depends
on it to grow their crops. This includes Yakima County and Pierce County.
There is a big variety to call soil names.
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Bibliography
Laboratory of Soil Science and Plant Nutrition", [Online] Available
http://www.ktokai-u.ac.jp/~nougoku/agro, soil.html, November 24, 1999
"Soil Types", Encarta Encyclopedia, 2000
"Soil", World Book Encyclopedia, 1991
"Soil Management and Research", Comptons Interactive Encyclopedia,
1995
"Soil", World Book Encyclopedia, 1995
"Soils of Europe", [Online] Available http://auto-revista.com/informe/HTMNF/CH7DOS/SOIL.HTML
Winkler, Suzanne, Our Endangered Planet, SOIL, Lerner Publication Company.
1994 |
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