Soil Testing!

On Thursday, Chloe had us practice what we learned in the classroom out in the field! We used various tools to assess soil samples and discuss what makes up the ground below us.

We used soil corers to see how many layers we can see in our soil. Each layer suggests different substrate within the soil

We also used a soil sifter to see the different compositions of the soil. Each layer of the soil sifter has a different screen with smaller and smaller gaps between wires. Soil will pass from the screens with big gaps to lower and lower and lower levels and smaller gaps.

We tested the soil in 3 areas of the park and discovered a few things. First, areas up on hills suffered from erosion. Erosion is "the process by which material on the surface of the land is dislodged and moved." Erosion can be caused by many factors, one of which is lack of plants and vegetation on the surface of the ground. Plants have roots which helps to hold all the soil together in the ground. Without plants, we don't have much holding the soil together. Up on the upper areas of the park, we found spots of land that were bare of any grass or vegetation. We think this lack of vegetation caused the lack of layers in the soil. We discovered our soil has alot of sand in it as well. Welcome to the Ocean State!

We tested the soil at three sites in the park. Areas around the pond and in the woods had nice, layered soil. We found a bit of clay in each soil sample, but most consistently, sand.