Title of Project: Grain-Size Analysis (To be used as project connected with the Outdoor Classroom or the Endangered Specie)

Description: This project will allow the student to become familiar with a method of determining the particle size distribution of a soil. Students will be able to distinguish between gravel, sand, silt and clay sized particles. Intended Grade: 7th and 8th Gifted Subject: This project will focus on Earth Science and Math Mississippi Standard/Framework Addressed: Seventh Grade Frameworks Math 4. Collect, organize, and summarize data and use simple probability. (P, D, M, G, N) 8. Survey and apply concepts of ratio, proportion, and percent. (P, D, M, G, N) Eight Grade Frameworks Math 4. Apply the concepts of ratio, proportion, and percent to solve real-life problems. (P, D, M, G, N) NSTA Standards Addressed: Content Standard D: Structure of the Earth System This activity investigates soil, which is a major component of the Earths crust. How is the Mississippi River Theme addressed for the project? This project is will be incorporated into the endangered species project (trunk). The soil will be similar to the soil found near the Mississippi River. Other activities could be added to supplement this lesson.

Background Information: Soil is defined as the natural medium for the growth of plants. Soil is formed from broken down rocks, organic matter (decayed animal and plant life), water, and air. In the United States, there are about 21,000 types of soil. These soils contain a mixture of gravel, sand, silt and clay. As a result of this mixture soil can be classified as sandy, silty, or clayey, depending on the percentages of each grain size.

Engineers classify soil based on its particle-size distribution. This is important in concrete and asphalt mixes that are used in the design process for pavements. Particle sizes are also important when deciding what soils are needed to design roads, airfields, levees and dams. Each soil type is used in different ways, for example, some soils can support the weight of buildings, where as some are best used for growing crops.

In this lesson, the soils are going to be broken down into four main particle sizes; gravel, sand, silt and clay. We will determine the percentages of each grain size, determine what type of soil was collected, and discuss what the soil would best be used for.

Vocabulary: Sieve- A device with meshes or perforations through which finer particles of a mixture (as of ashes, flour, or sand) of various sizes may be passed to separate them from coarser ones, through which the liquid may be drained from liquid-containing material, or through which soft materials may be forced for reduction to fine particles (Definition from the Webster Dictionary). It is basically a screen, the finer particles pass through the screen and the larger particles get collected by the screen. Gravel- Any sediment that will be collected by a No. 4 sieve. Sand- Any sediment that will pass a No. 4 sieve, but be collected by a No. 200 sieve (or any sieve between the No.4 and No. 200). Clay and Silt- These particles are very small and hard to differentiate. These particles will pass a No. 200 sieve.

Materials: Set of sieves (U.S. Standard Sieve Mesh) (sieves can be purchased through Wards Catalogue www.wardsci.com) Mortar and pestle or something to crush the soil Scale Supply of soil (air-dried or oven-dried)

Detail Procedures: (This works best in groups) First before we get started, describe the soil. Look at the color, smell and texture. What does if feel like? What type of soil do you think it is, sandy, silty or clayey?

1. Weigh a dish to place soil in. Record this weight on Worksheet 1. 2. Using a mortar and pestle pulverize the soil until all the clumps are gone. 3. Obtain approximately 500 grams of oven-dried or air-dried soil and place it in the dish that was weighed in the previous step. Weigh the soil and record the weight on Worksheet 1. Note this will be the weight of the soil plus the dish. To find the weight of the soil, subtract the weight of the dish from the weight of the soil. 4. In this experiment we will be using the following sieves: Sieve No. (U.S. standard mesh) 4 10 40 60 100 200 pan 5. Weigh each sieve and record the mass of each sieve on Worksheet 1. 6. Stack the sieves, starting with the pan on the bottom, next the 200, 100, 60 and so on, placing the lid on the top. 7. Place the sieve on the shaker and tighten the screws so they are in place firmly. 8. Turn the shaker on for 5 minutes. 9. Remove the stack of sieves from the shaker. Carefully separate the sieves and place each one on a paper towel.

10. Weigh each sieve and record the mass of soil that was collected on Worksheet 1. 11. Now on your data sheet, subtract the mass of soil collected from the mass of the sieve (the mass of sieve is from step 5). Record this number on Worksheet 1. 12. Now that you have weighed all the sieves, find the total mass contained by adding the column titled mass retained. Compare this result to the mass of soil you started with. How much soil was lost or gained? What could have happened if you end up with a mass greater than what you started with? 13. Compute the percent retained on each sieve. Do this by dividing the weight retained on each sieve by the original sample mass from step 3. 14. Compute the percent passing (or percent finer) by starting with 100 percent and subtracting the percent retained on each sieve as a cumulative procedure. 15. Useful equations Quantity passing = Total mass Mass retained % Retained = Mass retained / total mass Quantity passing = Mass arriving mass retained 16. Now construct graphs of: a. Sieve No. (x-axis) vs. % Passing (y-axis) b. Sieve No. (x-axis) vs. Cumulative Mass Retained (y-axis) c. Sieve No. (x-axis) vs. Mass Retained by each sieve (y-axis) 17. What percentage of clay, silt, sand and gravel is present? 18. Based on the results, what type of soil should it be classified as?

Worksheet 1 Grain Size Analysis Data Sheet Project__________________________________ Location of soil that was collected:______________________________ Description of soil:__________________________________________ Tested by:______________________________ Date of testing:________________

Data Collection: Mass of dish:__________ Mass of dry sample + dish:____________ Mass of dry sample: _____________

Sieve Analysis After 5 minutes of shaking Mass retained (Mass of soil Mass of Sieve) % Retained (by each sieve)

Sieve No.

Mass of Sieve (Before soil is added)

Mass of Sieve + soil

% Passing(each sieve)

4 10 40 60 100 200 Pan

Total=

Reference: This laboratory activity came from the following source: Bowles, Joseph E., Engineering Properties of Soils and Their Measurement, Fourth Edition. Irwin/McGraw-Hill, 1992