As part of our Forest skills we wanted to know what type of soil we had. Kieron from the Country Trust showed us how we could test the soil in our forest area. We conducted three tests.

We conducted a test the soil composition. We made a ball and gave it a squeeze and found that we had clay soil.

Next we did a ribbon test by pressing the soil between our thumb and index finger and then measured the bits that broke off.  Then we did a texture test by making a puddle and feeling whether the soil was smooth or gritty or both. Finally we tested the PH levels of the soil.

“ The soil is gritty, but when you put your fingers on it, it is smooth too.” “I can feel crumbs.” 
As you can imagine we got very messy, but it was lots of fun being soil scientists! 
“I never knew there was clay and sand in mud.”- Malika

“We learned lots of facts about soil.”-Mayah

“I liked collecting the worms for the compost bin.” -Aras