Soil Samples (Soil Texture)

Having samples of sand, silt, and clay makes my soil unit so much easier. The students are constantly drawing connections and remembering what they observed about these samples. Each bag is about a quart size and comes 1/2-2/3 full. It's enough for me to give 90 students 1/2-tsp of each (plenty to make their observations) and still have a good amount left over for next year. Worth the purchase every time!!

These bonafide samples of sand, silt & clay helped me conduct experiments to qualitatively compare how each material altered the texture or condition of soil-less organic plant growing media such as sphagnum peat moss, coconut coir, composted manure, etc. The clay and silt are of most interest to me. Clay tends to aggregate the growing media more than silt. Sand provides little to know aggregation. Aggregates in the grow media are important to maintain good aeration and well-draining which helps in preventing an anaerobic environment leading to root rot including other bad side-effects. Clay and silt both can help with mineralization of the growing media as well. The extent of mineralization will take longer for me to evaluate. So far so good!

I was very pleased with this product! My students were very engaged and thrilled to be touching actual soil as a science lesson. It was plenty for a class of 21 to each have a little sample, enough to even test adding water to each. The shipping time was also efficient.