What Killed the Cabbage?
by Dennis Johnson, The Science House, NCSU
Farmer Jim Dolittle decided to go into the Cabbage business. The field that he decided to plant his cabbage in was not being used, and is about 2 miles from his house. Jim Dolittle chose to plant small cabbage plants instead of starting with seeds, that way he could harvest his cabbage before everyone else and get his cabbage into the grocery stores first.
Farmer Dolittle did not want to invest very much money in his crop of cabbage so he tilled the land and planted his cabbage plants without having Stella’s Crop Services test the soil. Quite to Dolittle’s disappointment all of his cabbage plants turned brown and withered.
Dolittle has finally decided to have Stella’s Crop Services test his soil to see what went wrong. Steve Smelling has gone out to Dolittle’s cabbage field and collected some soil for Stella. As a lab technician in Stella’s Crop Services Company, it is your job to conduct some tests on Jim’s fields. Once you have tested the soil from the fields you will need to write a report describing the condition of the soil and make recommendations for improving the soil in Farmer Jim Dolittle’s Cabbage field.
Stella has recommended that you conduct the following tests on the soil from Mr. Dolittle’s field: pH, salinity, potassium, nitrogen, phosphorous, and water retention. Once you have conducted your tests you need to write a report. The report should include the following:
1. The results of your tests.
2. The recommended levels for each soil test.
3. Any soil characteristics that need to be improved to make the field suitable for cabbage growth.
What is soil made of?
- Soil is varying amounts of organic matter (living and dead organisms), minerals, and nutrients.
- Natural processes can take more than 500 years to form 1 inch of topsoil.
- Soil is formed from rocks and decaying plants and animals.
- An average soil sample is 45% minerals, 25% water, 25% air, and 5% organic matter.
- Different size mineral particles, such as sand, silt, and clay give soil its texture.
- Fungi and bacteria help break down organic matter in soil.
- Plant roots and lichens break up rocks, which becomes part of new soil.
- Roots loosen the soil, allowing oxygen to penetrate. This benefits animals living in the soil.
- Roots hold soil together and help prevent erosion.
- Earthworms digest organic matter, recycle nutrients, and make soil richer.
- Mice take seeds and other plant materials into underground burrows, where this material eventually decays and becomes part of the soil.
- Mice, moles and shrews dif burrows, which help aerate soil.
Information provided by US Dept. of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service
Data Collection Using TI-83+ and LabPro
Set Up:
- Connect an auto ID probe(s) to the LabPro unit.
- Make sure that the TI-83+ calculator is connected to the LabPro with an appropriate interface cable.
- Turn on the TI-83+ calculator and LabPro.
- Load the DataMate program by pressing the APPS button. Use the Scroll keys to highlight the DataMate program. Press ENTER to load the program.
- Change the Mode from” Time Graph” to “Single Point”.
a. Press 1 (Setup) on the calculator.
b. Using the Down Scroll Key select “MODE” then press ENTER on the calculator.
c. Press 4 (SINGLE POINT) on the calculator.
d. Press 1 (OK) on the calculator.Data Collection:
- Clean the tip of the probe with distilled water.
- Place the probe in the solution to be tested.
- Wait about 30 seconds for the probe to stabilize.
- Press 2 (START) on the calculator to begin collecting data. Gently stir the solution with the probe during the 10 seconds of data collection.
- Record your results.
- Press ENTER to return to the main screen.
- Repeat steps 4 – 6 for subsequent tests.
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