Flooded soil creates a multitude of environmental problems.
Flooding has numerous effects on the environment. Since grass, trees, vegetation and homes live or are built on soil, it is important to understand the effects flooding has on soil. Flooded soil experiments can help your students understand the phenomenon as well as help prevent it.
Soil Liquefaction
Saturation of soil with water causes soil liquefaction. Soil turns from a solid form to a liquid form because too much water has entered the soil. Different types of soil can saturate at different levels, depending on the type of granules and the space between the granules in the soil. This topic can be investigated as a science fair project in looking at different types of soil and their saturation levels. Using sand, clay and loam, fill a bucket with each type of soil. On top of the soil place a brick. Add 100 milliliters of water to each bucket. Continue to add 100 milliliters of water to each bucket until the brick sinks. This will determine which type of soil takes longer to saturate.
Soil Texture
Investigate soil texture and water retention and determine how much water different soils with different textures can hold during flooding. Place granules of sand and gravel in a petri dish. Using a dissecting microscope, examine the texture of both the sand and gravel. Notice that gravel does not have as many open pockets as sand does. Place the sand and gravel in two separate 500 milliliter beakers. Add 100 milliliters of water to each. Observe and record observations. You should notice that the sand absorbed water since the gravel has no open pockets. This suggests that soil containing sand should be used in areas where flooding is more likely.
Saltwater Flooding
Create an experiment to investigate whether coastal saltwater flooding causes more damage to lawns compared to fresh water flooding. Obtain two wooden rectangular frames and attach cheesecloth on the bottom to create a box. The cheesecloth will hold the soil in the frame and allow water to drain through the box. Add soil to the boxes. The boxes will serve as lawns in this project. Get two dish pans larger than the wooden framed boxes and set two pieces of wood across the pans. Place the boxes on top. Spread grass seeds into the soil. Make sure to add an equal amount of seeds and soil to each box. Add 1 gallon of fresh tap water to one of the boxes. Add a saltwater mixture to the other box. Observe and record results daily, adding 1 gallon of water. Observe the growth of the grass. Determine which type of flooding the soil allowed for the growth of grass during the addition of water (flooding).
Sandbags
Experiment to determine what types of materials can be placed in a sandbag to prevent flooding. In this experiment, gravel, soil and mulch will be tested. Fill sandbags with all three soil types. Place the sandbags in large pans or bins. Pour 1 gallon of water into each sandbag. After one hour, measure how much water that passed through the sandbags. Determine which type of material would work the best to prevent flooding. The sandbag with the least amount of water in the bin would be more effective at preventing flooding.
Tags: milliliters water, milliliters water each, much water, sand gravel, water each
