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Water movement through soil
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look at
water infiltration through different types of soil (sand, clay, potting mix
etc)
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could use
food dye in the water to make it easier to see where the water has moved
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time how
long it takes for water to move through the soil
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measure how
much water moves through a certain volume of soil
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what are the
implications for plants growing in different soils (e.g. sands dry out quicker,
need watering more often)
Soil erosion
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look at the
effect that cover has on soil to protect it from erosion
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could have
bare soil, soil with grass, soil with straw etc and add a certain amount of
water to the soil
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measure the
amount of sediment that runs off the soil
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see if any
gullies or rills form in the soil
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what are the
implications for farmers managing their cropping systems
Soil pH
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could have
different soil types
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measure pH
(use litmus strips or indicator solutions available from pool shops or
gardening shops, or borrow a pH meter from school or state government
department)
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add
different amounts of products such as lime and sulfur to the soil and see what
impact that has on pH
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look at pH
tolerance information for different plants and crops
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what are the
implications for plant growth in acid and alkaline soils
Soil fertility
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could set up
a pot experiment with 5-10 pots
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use a low
fertility soil (eg. sand) or vermiculite
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have one pot
as the control
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add
differing amounts of nutrient solution (e.g. nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium,
sulphur etc) to the pots
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grow something
relatively fast growing e.g. wheat
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see which
plants grow best at what rate of nutrients
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what are the
implications for plant growth
Soil texture
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soils are
made up of varying amounts of sand, silt and clay
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students could collect soil from different areas and do field texture tests (e.g.
ribboning) on the soil to determine what type of soil it is
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what are the
implications about different soil types (e.g. sands have a low moisture holding
capacity and low nutrient holding capacity; clays have a high nutrient holding
capacity)
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