How to Prevent Erosion Science Project For Students
Grass is extremely important, even if it seems pretty plain and boring. Erosion is the process that carries away bits of the ground by using water, ice, or wind. We don’t want the soil to be carried away because it can take millions of years to form, and if the ground is taken away, anything built on it will be unstable and could be taken away too! In this experiment, you’re going to learn how grass can help to prevent erosion. Grass has a soft stem and fibrous roots, or roots that spread out in different directions instead of forming one big root. This means that they are connect to a lot of the earth and soil.
Question
How will grass help prevent erosion of the soil?
Materials
- Soil
- Water
- Grass seed
- 3 Styrofoam egg carton tops
- Scissors
- Barbeque skewer
- Duct tape
- 2 plastic or paper 12 oz cups
- Grass
- Cookie sheet or shallow baking pan
- White paper
- Ruler
Procedure
- Take an egg carton lid and fill it with soil.
- Sprinkle grass seed into it.
- Water it and place it somewhere sunny.
- Water it regularly, until it reaches ΒΌ”. This may take over a week. Make sure it isn’t too wet on the day of the experiment.
- Take the duct tape and cover all the holes on the sides of the egg carton lids.
- Cut off a small side on each egg carton lid. This is to help the water flow out easier.
- Fill up the other egg carton lids with soil.
- Use your skewer to poke about six holes into the bottom of one of your cups. The cup is your rainmaker.
- Find some grass outside and tear it into small bits.
- Lay this grass on the top of the soil in one of your lids.
- Take the soil only lid and rest the not cut off end on the edge of the pan. This should slant the lid because of how one end is raised. (The whole lid should be on the pan, though.)
- Take your white paper and lay it under the cut off end of the lid.
- Fill up your cup without holes with water.
- Hold your hole-filled cup over the pan about 10 cm above it.
- Pour the water into the hole-y cup.
- Move the cup over the soil to act like it’s raining.
- See what color and how much water comes out of the cut off end of the lid.
- Replace the soil only lid with the soil and grass pieces lid.
- Remove the water in the baking pan and replace the white paper.
- Repeat steps 11 through 19 with the soil and grass pieces lid.
- Repeat steps 11 through 10 with the grass you grew lid.
Results
The water from the soil only lid will be the darkest; the lid with the grown grass will be the clearest.
For students in 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th grade.
