Far Eastern University

Roosevelt-Rodriguez Campus
Senior High School Department
Practical Research 2
1st Fun Experiment. Identifying Soil Texture

Instructions. Conduct the experiment following the specific procedures. Document the process.
Compute the necessary data. You may submit with creative lay-out, but in pdf format without a
watermark. No need to follow Ms. Capistrano’s output as format is sending your final output (i.e. a
research paper’s format) as you have limited time to do this experiment. Just focus on conducting the
experiment and make sure that you, yourself, are included in the pictures for the procedures. Have fun,
class! Let’s unleash the scientist spirit within you!

As for the grading criteria: this is part of your PT (45% of the final grade). Your final score would be
100pts – (all the deductions from not following each specific instruction & wrong calculations and tracings,) + (early sub) +
(creative lay-out or design)

Name:____Luis Janssen B. Tee Sy________

Date accomplished:__November 2, 2021_______

Objective:

Determine the texture of the soil by using the jar soil test method

Materials:

● Soil sample from your garden or backyard

● Small shovel
● A tall and straight jar
● Ruler
● Permanent marker
● Plastic sifter
● 1 tsp of dish washing liquid

For the materials that were not available, the scientists used other objects as an alternative.

Procedure:

1. Sift the soil sample from your garden or backyard using the plastic sifter to remove stones,
twigs, roots etc.
2. Finely pulverize the soil sample.
3. Fill the slender, tall jar ¼ full of soil.
4. Add water until ¾ full.
5. Add 1 teaspoon of dish washing liquid.
6. Close the lid of the jar and shake vigorously for 10 minutes to break apart the soil aggregates
and separate the soil into individual mineral particles.
7. Place the jar where it will not be disturbed for 2-3 days.
8. The soil particles will settle out according to size/density. After 1 minute, mark the jar based
on the depth of the sand.
9. After 2 hours, mark the jar on the silt level.
10. When the water clears, mark the jar based on the clay level. Measuring the clay level typically
takes up to 1-3 days, but some soils with high amounts of clay may take weeks.

Data Analysis:

1. Measure the thickness of the sand, silt, and clay layer.

(just delete the given data here and replace with your own data; the same with item #2)
● Thickness of sand deposit = 2.1cm thick
● Thickness of silt deposit = 1.0cm thick
 ● Thickness of clay deposit = 0.5cm thick
● Thickness of total deposit = 3.6cm thick
2. Calculate the percentage of sand, silt, and clay. (can be in tabular form)

● Percent Sand = ([sand thickness] / [total thickness])*100 = (2.1cm/3.6cm) *100 =58.33%

Percent Silt = ([silt thickness] / [total thickness])*100 = (1.0cm/3.6cm) *100 = 27.78%
● Percent Clay = ([clay thickness] / [total thickness])*100 = (0.5cm/3.6cm) *100 = 13.89%

3. Turn to the soil texture triangle and look up the soil texture class.
You may also download the soil texture triangle from the internet.
(Draw a horizontal line for the % clay then diagonal lines for silt and sand following their computed percentage. Then, mark their
intersection, that would be the specific soil texture of your chosen soil sample.

Conclusion:
Make your own conclusion. Where can you use this specific type of soil texture that you
obtained? Can it be used as a foundation or a material for building houses and buildings? For gardens?
Include at least one in-text citation for the conclusion.

Sample conclusion (just add 1 in-text citation; you may improve this sample conclusion)
“In doing the experiment, the scientist classified the texture of the sample soil from their
garden as “sandy loam.” This type of soil has a good texture and is normally used for gardening.
Therefore, this experiment using the mason jar soil test helped the scientist to identify the texture of the
soil that she used in her plant experiment. Knowing the soil texture is important because it determines
the soil’s water-holding capacity and permeability that will affect the plant growth. “
Website link:
 Documentation: You, yourself, should be included in the pictures, with properly labeled figure titles.

Figure 1 . Gathering of the Figure 2. The Jar Figure 3. Soil Sample

Materials

Figure 4 - Sifting the Soil Sample Figure 5 - Pulverized Soil Figure 6 - Putting the Soil Sample in
the Jar

Figure 7 - Jar having ¼ Full of Soil Figure 8 - ¾ Full of Water Figure 9 - Adding 1 Teaspoon of
Dish Washing liquid
 Figure 10 - Shaking of the Mixture Figure 11 - Depth of the Sand
(after 1 minute)

Figure 12 - Depth of the Silt Figure 13 - Depth of the Clay Figure 14 - The Result
(after 2 hours) (after 3 days)

Your picture while holding your set-up/jar.

What did you learn from our 1st fun experiment?
(2-3 complete sentences)

I learned to sift some soil and how to mix it with

the other components used. I also learned how to
become patient if you worked on something.

Remarks for our 1st Fun Experiment: (2-3 complete sentences)

It is a little bit fun. It has a lot of work and time to be done. I started in the afternoon and finished it until it’s almost
night.

Accomplished with all honesty, Signature over printed name of

Signature over printed name of the student his/her witness.