Jenny Tran Mucking around!!!

Reflection

I've learned the different types of soil and the things that can be built on it and grown on it. I've also learned a lot about soil erosion and how it effect our environment. We spent time inside the outside the class room doing labs and experimenting with things that deals with soil. I learned that using hay or straw is one of the best and cheapest ways to pervent soil erosion. 

Learning about soil erosion prevention is important because it helps us keep the environment cleaner. Also, to have safer drinking water and clearner for the fishes to live in.

The pH test helped me learn that plants can grow in a certain amount of acidic soils.

Vocabulary

 Rill is a narrow incision into soil resulting from erosion.

Gully is a landform created by running water eroding sharply into soil.

Sediment is any particulate matter that can be transported be flow of fluid.

Soil erosion is the wearing away and removal of the land surface.

Ditch is a small to moderate depression created to channel water.

Question

What is the most common way for a rill to start?

Can placing a lot of rocks in a line start a rill?

Why does the Earth have so many different types of soil?

Video

To Liz and Melanie if you are still reading this, it was awesome to have you gals come over and teach our class. I hope you two come by and visit us again!(If we are not too wild and crazy for you!) :)

Make-up Media Thomas Froass

http://www.utexas.edu/depts/grg/hudson/grg360g/EGIS/labs_04/Lab9/sierra_madre_gully.JPG


http://www.otsego.org/conservationdistrict/images/Erosion1.jpg

Meredith White: Soil Erosion

Reflection

Over the past week I have learned several things about soil and soil erosion.  The whole class learned about soil profiles and horizons, how to prevent soil erosion, turbidity, and pH.  We participated in several activities throughout the week involving soil and pH.  My favorite part of the week was doing the challenge with the rainboxes.  Even though my group didn't do so well, it was fun experimenting hands-on with the different methods of preventing soil erosion.  I had a lot of fun through out the week and learned a lot of useful information.

Vocabulary

Soil erosion - The movement of soil

Gully -  A small valley or ravine that has been cut away by water

Rill - Small rivulet made by water

Detachment - When water hits the soil, resulting in peices of the soil to break off

Transport - The movement of soil by water

Questions

How could you protect the soil in your surroundings from soil erosion?

Nobody likes drinking dirty water, so why is the legal turbidity measure for North Carolina fifty and not zero?

What affect can soil erosion have in the wild life that lives in our rivers and streams?

What is the most affective way of preventing soil erosion?

Media

Alec Guarnaccia mucking around in the dirt

Reflection: This week I learned a lot of new things I never new about soil and soil erosion.We learned the 3 different types of soil along with their profiles, structures, and textures. We also learned about the different types of erosion and how we can prevent it. Going around the campus taking pictures helped me realize the many different types of erosion and where they take place. The rain box activity really helped me realize the effectiveness of the different types of products and methods that can stop or slow down erosion. These things are important because they will help us with our experiences later in life, such as if we plan on building a house, planting a garden, or building a tool shed. We would need knowledge of soil erosion for these tasks because we wouldn't want our house or shed moving when it rains, or planting a garden that wont grow because the soil got washed away and now the plants wont have the necessities they need.

Vocabulary:
1.Transport- When water carries soil to a different location.
2. Rill- A small rivulet or brook.
3.Gully- A small valley or ravine originally eroded away by running water.
4.Detachment- Separation of soil from other soil particles.
5.Soil Erosion- the movement of soil from one location to another.

Questions:

1. Instead of having a legal limit for the amount of sediment in the water runoff to protect the fish and the quality of the water, why not just prohibit runoff in general and have it go  to another place?

2. Since there are laws about how much soil erosion a construction site can have, why doesn't tax money go to erosion prevention instead of the construction companies paying for it?

3. Would it be safe to have wire filters in a yard to prevent soil erosion since the metals can get into the

water and contaminate it?

Our groups rain box experiment, we used hay, mulch, coconut strands, rocks, and had a wire filter at the end of our tube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIQrSH6LMgA
Here is a good example of transportation in a gully. Notice the color of the water, because of all the sediment it is carrying .

Reflection in the dirt

This week was quite an amazing one.  My most enjoyable point was the soil box experiment.  Working with a team to try and come up with the best possible way to reduce erosion was a fun way to get us thinking about how we can minimize erosion.  The presentation on other methods of soil erosion prevention was also interesting.  I would always see sediment basins along the road but never know what they are, because if this week I know much more about soil erosion and the dangers of it.  What we learned can help us to prevent soil erosion in the world around us.  I thought that seeing the cracks in the road was the most interesting type of erosion.  The cracks in the road occur when water sinks into the road and then freezes, when the water freezes it expands and causes cracks in the road.

The only questions I feel that need to be asked are

1.) Why would people not attempt to reduce soil erosion when it is such a large problem today?

2.) How long does it take for gulleys to be formed?

3.) Which places in our environment are exposed to soil erosion that are impossible to fix?

Vocabulary

1.) Soil Erosion- the movement of soil from one location to another

2.) Transport- Water carries teh soil to a different location

3.) Rill- A small rivulet or brook

4.) Gully- A small valley or ravine originally worn away by running water

5.) Detatchment- Separation of soil from other soil particles

-JAK-

Jon Cogdill Soil Erosion Project

This week i have learned a great deal about soil erosion. I learned that erosion can effect anybody at anytime. I had no idea that soil erosion was this serious. We did many different activities this week, like testing soil and doing different experiments with it. My favorite activity that we did would have to be the soil erosion box. Our group had a great plan on how to prevent soil erosion and i think it worked very well. Through this weeks lessons i also learned that sediment can be very harmful in streams and rivers. It can smother fish eggs in the river, and it can also kill trout by clogging up their gills so they cant breath. These soil erosion lessons are very important because anybody can be affected by soil erosion, so with these lessons we can learn how to stop and prevent it.

The Vocabalary that we learned this week include:

        - Rill: A small stream

        -Gully: A deep ditch cut by running water

        -Turbidity: How clean/clear water is

        -Soil Erosion: The washing away of soil by running water

        -Detachment: When soil is seperated by water splashing it

Here are some questions that i have about soil erosion:

    -What can we do to prevent soil erosion at our house or in our community?

   

    - What is the government doing to prevent soil erosion around the country?

    - How do you prevent sediment from entering mountain streams when so much of it runs into the water?

Soil Erosion Thomas Froass

This past week I have a learned a lot about soil erosion. I didn't realize the effects that it could have on things in everyday life. During the week we did a bunch of fun activities like the experiment preventing soil erosion in our rainboxes or testing our soil to see the pH. I saw many examples of soil erosion when the class walked around the school. We also looked at a construction map and planned out how to stop soil erosion. I learned a lot this week and it was a lot of fun!

Vocabulary:

Gully- Small valley or ravine that has been run away by water.

Transport- The movement of soil by water.

Detachment- When water splashes onto the soil separating it from the whole.

Rill- Small rivulet worn away  by water.

Soil Erosion- Movement of soil.

Questions:

I learned a lot and wanted to know this...

How has soil erosion really affected our daily lives?

What can the average person do to help stop soil erosion?

Media:




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9k9IoaXFXrk