1. HOLISTIC EDUCATION and DEVELOPMENT CENTER
The Little Farm House
HIGH SCHOOL DEPARTMENT
AY 2010 – 2011
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE II
Laboratory Report on Soil Properties
Name: Roberto P. Jimenez Date: Oct. 10 2010
Section: Yr. 2 Mandela Score: ____________________
GENERAL DIRECTIONS: Answer each question briefly but concisely. Use your own words. List your references at the
end of this report. Feel free to add spaces to accommodate your answer but DO NOT CHANGE THE FORMAT of this
document. Submit this report via email to hgc_hedcen@yahoo.com on or before Wednesday, October 13, 2010.
Water Holding Capacity
1. List the materials used in determining the soil’s water holding capacity. The materials used for determining the
water holding capacity is soil, bottle and water.
2. Draw a detailed flowchart of the steps you followed. (You may submit this separately if you’re not proficient with
Word.)
3. Show how you computed for the water holding capacity of your soil sample in the space below.
WHC=wet wt – dry wt. /dry wt
WHC=177.82-153.17/153.17
=0.16
Drainage
1. List the materials used in determining the soil’s drainage. The materials we used for the soil’s drainage is a
stopwatch, graduated cylinder and the super saturated soil
2. Draw a detailed flowchart of the steps you followed. (You may submit this separately if you’re not proficient with
Word.)
Soil Texture
1. List the materials used in determining the soil’s texture. The materials used for determining the soil texture is a
soil texture triangle and the height of the sand, silt and clay.
2. Draw a detailed flowchart of the steps you followed. (You may submit this separately if you’re not proficient with
Word.)
3. Determine the soil texture of your soil sample by using the soil texture triangle below. Sandy Loam

2. Data Table
1. Obtain the data of the other section for comparison.
2. Complete the following data table:
Section Group # (Include names) WHC Drainage Soil Texture
Aquino 1 (Justin Cabangon, 0.32 6.2 s
Diego Felizardo, Nicole
Cabuquit)
2 0.26 317 s
3 0.20 0.05 s
4 (Basil Nacionales, Luigi 0.25 63 s Silt
Fernandez, Peter Lee)
5 0.28 19.94 s
Average 0.262 81.24 s
Mandela 1 (Skie Carranza, Crio 0.22 8.44 s
Sevilla, Seth Rasul)
2 (Jason Aquino, Tin 0.16 306 s Sandy Clay
Capulong, Robert
Jimenez)
3 (Anton Solatorio, 0.22 8.82 s Sandy Clay
Frances Brinas, Bryan
Lacson)
4 (Jianne Garcia, Bryce 0.18 306 s Sandy Clay
Reyes, Mary Rose Obra)
5 (Jason Layug, Kryzzia 0.24 2.8 s
Sy)
Average 0.204 126.412
Discussion
1. Enumerate at least 3 sources of error for this laboratory activity. Explain how the laboratory activity may be modified to
minimize the error from each of these sources. The 3 sources of error for this laboratory activity is soil, because
soil makes flooding which is an error for this. I can’t think of others. We can minimize the error if we lessen
the exposure of water from the soil.
2. Which soil sample (Mandela or Aquino) is better for gardening? Justify your choice. The soil sample that is better
for gardening is group 1 of section Aquino. It’s better for gardening because it has higher water holding
capacity which means that the soil can absorb water faster and easier. If it’s faster and easier, the roots will
get wet as soon as possible.
3. Suppose you were hired as a consultant in a farm. Your job is to insure the farm’s productivity while maintaining its
soil quality. What steps would you recommend to the farm owner to achieve this goal? I would like to recommend
that they don’t put chemical fertilizers too much because if they use chemical fertilizers, the soil will have
“alien” chemicals that even the plant would even die. Don’t also water too much because if the water it too
much, the soil will cause flooding that the plant and the soil will be affected.
References