Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

My partner and I are trying to conduct an experiment on how to prevent the most soil erosion using common items. We are going to mix the items, sand, natural cloth, sticks and soil as our control, into the soil and then simulate rain water and measure and record the amount of soil it was able to prevent from eroding based on the eroded soil from the soil containing no items. However we are unsure about how we will be able to conduct this experiment while having the soil on a slope. We hope you may be able to find a solution to our problem. and let us inform you that we would like to get our project started as soon as possible. All help is appreciated thank you.

Hi,
The usual way to do these sorts of experiments is with a "rainfall simulator" which is some device that delivers droplets of water at a constant flow rate. If you are doing this in the lab, you could build sloped surfaces with the same inclination for each soil and then apply artificial rainfall at a constant rate for a set amount of time. Many more possibilities exist - this is just one.
Looking forward to hearing more.
Chris

Hi,
Thank you Chris for your help we appreciate it. We were trying to conduct this experiment without useing a lab but if necessary we will be able to thank you for the help. If you have anymore suggestions please keep us informed.

Hi, Chris we were hopeing to begin conducting our experiment in the folowing days i hope you can give us the answer to our pevious reply on were we can conduct the experiment once again all help is appreciated.

Hi, You can probably plan this experiment better than me, because I don't know the constraints of where you live and what is available. I'd say the general guidelines are to use the same slope for each soil treatment, and to apply the same intensity of simulated rainfall. If you can build some sort of "rainfall simulator" that's great (try a google search for ideas of designs). If not, you could also use a regular sprinkler mounted at a certain height and with a set amount of flow. You'll want to have some way to quantify the amount of soil that runs off the sloped surface, such as by collecting it on plastic below and estimating the volume and/or mass of eroded soil.
Does that help? I hope so.
Chris

Hi, it is winter so we are restricted to an indoor place, my friends have been trying to get a lab so if they get any info they will foward it to us thanks for your help chris i'll post another question if we need anymore help

sj1000 wrote:Hi, it is winter so we are restricted to an indoor place, my friends have been trying to get a lab so if they get any info they will foward it to us thanks for your help chris i'll post another question if we need anymore help

Ah, that explains a lot. I'm in California, where the winter is not so icy.
An inflatable "kiddie pool" might be a good way to run this experiment at home or in a classroom. For presentations purposes you could take plaster casts of the soil surface after the erosion experiment is done. If done carefully, you could use those plaster casts to estimate the total volume eroded. Just a couple of random ideas.
Good luck. I'm looking forward to hearing how it goes.
Chris

We have figured out a way to conduct our experiment and we both appreciate your help. thank you

From,
sj1000

I'm glad to hear that you figured out a way to conduct your experiment. For the benefit of those who follow in your footsteps, please feel free to post more about your experimental design and results. Of course the experts here will be glad to continue offering advice and answering questions about your project.
Regards,
Chris

the way we have conducted our experiment is that we have got a slide that has a straight slope and we have placed the soil on top of it. we then use the rain water simulator, a bucket with holes in the bottom, and we poured the water into that. after that the water traveled down the slide and into our measureing cup us giveing us the amount of water eroded. you've been alot of help thank you chris

Hi sj1000,
It sounds like you have made creative use of available resources. I'm a little confused about the erosion measurements. Are you collecting water at the bottom of the slide, or water + sediment? Usually "erosion" refers to the removal of sediments by wind or water, so estimating erosion rates would require the measurement of sediment mass or volume rather than water.
Looking forward to hearing more,
Chris

we made sure to filter the water out by putting the soil and water mix through one of those sand sifter things that you play with at the beach and it was helpful to remove excess water

The science fair is in two weeks we will tell you how we do chris

Good luck! I hope it goes well for you.