Pedosphere

Soil Characterization

Protocol

Soil Characterization protocol (pdf)

With this protocol, you can identify horizons in a soil profile; observe the structure, color, consistence, texture, and presence of rocks, roots, and carbonates of each horizon; and take samples for use in laboratory characterization protocols. 

Selecting, Exposing, and Defining a Soil Characterization Site (pdf)

This protocol guides you in using a technique to expose a soil profile for characterization.

Protocols to help in completion of the main protocol.
Bulk Density protocol (pdf)

Use this protocol to help measure the mass of a dry soil sample of known total volume including pore space to determine the density of the whole sample. 

Particle Size Distribution protocol (pdf)

Using this protocol, you can suspend a known mass of dry soil in water and measure the specific gravity of the suspension after sand and then silt has settled out of the suspension to determine the amount of each soil particle-size group in the sample. 

Selecting, Exposing, and Defining a Soil Characterization Site (pdf)

This protocol guides you in using a technique to expose a soil profile for characterization.

Soil Fertility protocol (pdf)

Use this protocol and a GLOBE Soil Fertility Kit to prepare samples and determine whether nitrate, phosphate, and potassium are absent from a soil sample or present in low, medium, or high concentrations. 

Soil Particle Density protocol (pdf)

This protocol helps you measure the volume of a known mass of dry soil particles and calculate the density of the particle portion only of a soil sample. 

Soil pH protocol (pdf)

Prepare a one-to-one mixture of dry soil and distilled water with help from this protocol, and then measure the pH of the liquid left after most of the soil has settled to the bottom of the mixture. 

Activities to help students learn more about the instruments and protocols.
A Field View of Soil - Digging Around (pdf)
Students discover that soil properties such as moisture and temperature can vary considerably across a single landscape.
From Mud Pies to Bricks (pdf)
Students make mud pies by adding water to the various soil components, letting them dry and observing the pie's characteristics.
Just Passing Through (pdf)
Students are introduced to the basic concepts of how water passes through soil in an activity which illustrates the scientific method. More advanced students investigate the effects of soil characteristics on water infiltration and the chemistry of water that has passed through soil
Just Passing Through (Beginner Version) (pdf)
Beginning students are introduced to the basic concepts of how water passes through soil in an activity which illustrates the scientific method. More advanced students investigate the effects of soil characteristics on water infiltration and the chemistry of water that has passed through soil
Soil and My Backyard (pdf)
Students collect, describe and compare soils from their own backyards.
Soil Learning Activities Introduction (pdf)
Soil Makers (pdf)
Students will understand the geologic phenomena of weathering and erosion. These processes, along with deposition, shape our landforms and contribute to the development of parent material in the soil formation process.
Soil-The Great Decomposer (pdf)
Students simulate environmental conditions in order to determine the key factors that affect the decomposition of organic material in soil.
The Data Game (pdf)
Teams of students play a game in which they gather data and distort the values of certain measurements. They then estimate the values of the measurements taken by other teams and try to detect their errors.
Why Do We Study Soil (pdf)
An activity which highlights the importance of learning about the soils on Earth. In this activity students explore some of the many uses of soils, learn the five soil-forming factors, and gain a better understanding of how little of Earth's surface is covered in soil.

Additional documents or tools related to the protocol.