Complete the following activity and write up a report in your portfolio.
Title: Preventing Soil Erosion
Aim: To demonstrate how mulching and cover cropping reduce soil erosion.
Method:
See the video below for the instruction on how to carry out the experiment. Write out the instructions under this heading. Baking pans or food bowls can be used in place of plastic bottles.
In addition, use a spade to cut out a patch of grassy soil and repeat the experiment using the grassy soil.
Remember to take pictures of each of the three steps and the results.
Observations:
What is the colour of the water overflowing from each of the three pans?
Discussion:
Answer the following questions in your discussion:
What is Soil Erosion?
Why is soil erosion a bad thing?
How do plants like grass help to prevent soil erosion?
Give two reasons for and two reasons against the removal of vegetation from the farmland.
What is Mulching?
How does mulching help to prevent soil erosion?
What are three others benefits of mulching?
What is cover cropping?
How does cover cropping prevent erosion?
Conclusion:
What did you learn from the experiment?