Purpose

• The purpose of this lab was to classify the ciliates present in our soil sample and to note unique characteristics of the ciliates found. Also, the soil composition will be determined from the falcon tube in the last lab.

Procedure

1. Retrieved the Falcon tube from the tube stand and observed if there is a distinct separation between the materials in the Falcon tube
2. A ruler was used to measure the different layers present in the Falcon tube and was recorded in the lab notebooks.
3. Measure the total height of the sample and divide the measure of sand, clay, and silt by the total height.
4. Once the values were determined, the researchers searched for ciliates once again.

Results

Total height = 6.2 cm

Clay = 0.3 cm

Silt = 0.5 cm

Sand = 1.9 cm

Clay % = 11.1%

Silt % = 18.5%

Sand = 70.37%

Conclusion

• After this lab, the researchers were able to determine the soil composition and hence the soil type. It was difficult to locate any ciliates in the sample which can be attributed to the loss of ciliates when the sample was left out.