Purpose: The purpose of this experiment was to see how many ciliates were in the soil we collected in the beginning of the semester. Once we found ciliates in our soil we were supposed to create a culture.

Procedure:

Determining Water Content

1. Get soil sample that was created at the beginning of the semester. The mass was previously recorded.
2. Weigh the dry sample.
3. Subtract the mass of petri dish.
4. Calculate mass percent of water: [(wet soil)-(dry soil)/wet soil] x100

Determining Soil pH

1. Place 3-4 mL of soil into a falcon tube.
2. Add DI water to the tube until you reach the 8mL mark.
3. Mix tube for a few minutes.
4.  Let soil settle to the bottom, use a pipet to remove about 1 mL of water from the tube. Place it in a microcentrifuge tube.
5. Put the microcentrifuge tube into a centrifuge and let it spin for approximately one minute.
6. Obtain one strip of pH paper and a small glass bottle.
7. Pipette the liquid from the microcentrifuge tube into the glass bottle.
8. Place pH paper into the glass bottle.
9. Use the pH kit to identify what the pH is.
10. Record the pH.

Determining Soil Texture

1. Remove any twigs or rocks from the soil sample.
2. Add soil to 4 mL mark on a falcon tube.
3. Add water to the tube until the 8 mL mark. Mix.
4. Add one drop of dispersing agent to the falcon tube. Mix.
5. Set tube aside for next week.

Non-Flooded Plate

1. Add water to the petri dish from earlier in the semester. Add enough so the soil is moist and can slightly run off on the sides.
2. Look at the petri dish under the microscope for ciliates. Observe the runoff part of the soil.
3. Record ciliates that are seen.

Data:

Conclusion: Overall, this lab helped us learn various things. We learned about the pH of our soil, how to calculate water content, and how to create a Non-flooded plate. I think that we will be able to take these skills and apply them to future experiments.