Wabashiki Report

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Recommended: The aim of investigating 3 types of soil

Introduction
Recently for my environmental class we took a field trip to the Wabashiki Wetlands. The Wabashiki Wetland is located in Terre Haute, Indiana. These Wetlands are there today due to the Terre Haute Tomorrow organization created in the early 2000’s. The land used to be used for many industries and mainly farmland. My group member Nigel and I were required to form a hypothesis about soil samples we took from the wetlands. Our hypothesis was that our soil samples from the wooded area of the wetlands would have fewer nutrients than the area where there used to be farmland. Through the remainder of the paper we will be talking about our methods of testing the soil, results of those tests, and our conclusion. The conclusion will discuss the final outcome of our hypothesis and an explanation of that outcome.

Methods
My group member Nigel and I had to collect samples from both areas that we had to test for our hypothesis. When we finally arrived at the Wabashiki Wetlands we went straight to the wooded area first. We then began to take samples of the soil using a small shovel. We had to test the pH levels of the sample as soon as we collected it. We did this by using the soil pH meter that was provided to us. Each of us had to take a sample so we could have more accurate data to support our hypothesis. While taking these samples we had to use an app on a phone that gave us the exact UTM coordinates of each sample. After we took samples from the wooded area we then proceeded to the old farmland area to conduct the same tests. We had to put these samples in small bags to take home and dry. By the beginning of next week our samples were dry enough to test for phosphorus, nitrogen, and phosphate levels. To test each soil sample ...

... middle of paper ...

...ment. The reason why we were surprised at the results is because we assumed that there would be more nutrients in the farmlands, which was not the case. Also it was surprising that our data was noticeably different from one another because we collected soil in the same vicinity as each other. Based on the results we did have to adjust our hypothesis just because of the difference in nutrients. Our learning experience from this project was pretty interesting. Just learning the types of elements within the soil was very intriguing as well as informational. Being able to collect data outside of school made it a good experience as well, even though it was terrible weather. All in all, we learned there is more to an environment than what one would originally think.

Works Cited

"Wabashiki Fish and WIldlife Area." Wabash Valley Riverscape. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2014.

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