Lab 1 datasheet and report Soil preparation Explain how sieving affects soil structure. Compare your soil before and after sieving, as well as to the soil structure examples displayed on the demonstration table in the lab. Sieving affects soil structure by altering the particle size distribution, which has implication for overall soil composition. For our soil, H, the mixture was distributed unevenly thoughout the soil. The distribution of these particles affects soil structure and properties. After sieving, the finer particles pass through lower sieves and this process helped me understand the particle size distribution of the soil. From the demonstration soil structure, there were fine, medium, and coarse soil structure. The ones with highest/higher percentage of sand had gritty texture while the sample with high clay structure had fine, sticky texture. Water-holding capacity Funnel plus wet filter paper (g): 8.3g Air-dry soil added to filter (g): 25g Funnel plus filter plus wet soil (g): 70.2g Weight of water retained (g): 36.9g Calculated water-holding capacity, WHC (%): 1.476g => 0.40g Water weight retained = (funnel plus filter paper plus wet soil) - (funnel plus wet filter paper) – (air-dry soil). Note that this is an “estimate” based on the air-dry rather than oven- dry soil weight. WHC (weight %) = weight of water retained / air-dry soil weight * 100 Calculate the volume of water to be added to your pot to bring the soil to water-holding capacity: 623.6g
