CAUSE AND EFFECT OF EROSION

BY ROCK GILBERT

Science Fair Project for Rock Gilbert...St Michael’s School, Worthington Ohio

What will let the least amount of dirt out when you pour water down the sides?

Rock Gilbert II

St. Michael School

Science Fair Project

February 8, 1998

Statement of Problem

The problem being is which will hold more dirt the side with grass or the side with just plane dirt.

Abstract Nature at times damages the Earth by erosion. Erosion is the gradually wearing away of soil by water. The focus of this experiment is soil erosion. the belief is that soil erosion can be slowed down by a root system. The hypothesis is that the soil with grass roots will have less dirt fall out. Then soil with out will have less dirt. The steps to the project are first it is built. Then to proceed with the experiment you would need to plant grass bed on one side. On one side grass is planted and on the other their is only dirt. The grass was watered for three weeks. The grass was watered at different variations. In the response of different variations of rain fall. The grass was watered so much to represent that rain fall, which were 1 1/4, 1, 3/4, 1/2, 1/4. After the results of the run-off of the water and dirt has been measured for each side, the grass side let less dirt out. Thus proving the hypothesis correct.

RESEARCH Did you know that there are over one hundred thousand ways to destroy the earth. One of the ways that nature can destroy the earth is by the cause and effect of erosion. Erosion is the gradually taking away of dirt, soil, or sand by wind or water. One way that the earth can

help is by adding more sand or dirt to the run off edges, or by growing different plants on the muddy hills. The reason that the earth needs to be saved is because the earth might be losing part of the history or national land marks.

There are many different ways to try to save the earth. The main thing that people said earlier was erosion. That and many other things like: pollution also plays a roll in erosion, and other various things. So does tillage. Tillage is a way of bringing many different biological things to a place. Some things that people found out about it was another way to add soil to grow crops. What this does is it replaces the infertile soil with fertile soil which covers up the unwanted weeds. What this is saying is that it buries the unwanted weeds so the farmers can grow corn, wheat, and other crops. That is the basic idea of tillage. Then are so many forms of erosion for instance avalanches destroy trees, and water high winds that could cause the land to disintegrate little by little.

There has been a major history behind the cause and effect of erosion and our resources. There have been many resources that we might run out of in the future. This is a problem that almost everyone has thought about at one time the resources seemed like they would never end. This time was known as the pioneer times. Times have changed, and through the history of technology, the resources have been growing slimmer and slimmer because of our inventions. Now people are using cars, trains that still run on coal, computers, and other electrical devices. In earlier time periods people did not have these inventions that people might think are useful. Sure early people had lamps that would run on oil, but some people also spent a great deal of time on their candles.

Then there was an petition signed in 1873 that gave money to the research of for the natural resources. In the 1930s, known as the period of the drought, in essence helped pass a petition to give soil service to private lands and parks all around the US. In 1934 there was an act passed called the Taylor Grazing Act which was used to halt the use of the land designated as public domains, lands owned by the state or national government.

Much progress has come forward since early United States development. The progression was from 1873, 1934, 1970, and 1997. In 1873 the government gave the US scientist money to look into ways to save resources. In 1934 the Taylor Grazing Act was passed, finally. Then in 1970 the was the Environmental Protection Agency was formed. This agency was established to protect the resources. And in 1997 there was a meeting in Japan to address the issue of global warming. Countries will be expected to reduce their pollution emitted into the atmosphere.

My research project explores ways humanity can help preserve one of the earth’s precious natural recourses the soil. Erosion is one of the main causes of soil loss. The name of the project is which side the grass side or the dirt side will let the least amount of dirt run off. The method of erosion will be by water. The water will run off the platform to represent soil run-off. The way to measure this would be to collect all of the dirt that run’s- off out in a bucket, and then measure the dirt in pounds. The reason that people think that the grass side will have less erosion is because of the roots system. Then there is another side with just plain dirt, no roots or grass.

The reason that the researcher chose this project for science fair was because of a boy scout for a National Conservation Efforts Award. For the award boy would have to do an environmentally related project; then that boy would have to earn four merit badges from the selected following and they are forestry, soil and water conservation-that’s were the researcher got my project from-Fish and wildlife management and/or Energy. Then you would have to earn three from another selected group. They are bird study, geology, insect study, reptile and amphibian study, oceanography, mammal study, nature, and weather. Then that boy would have to write a research paper like this one and submit it to a board of conservation efferts in Ohio.

What is happening in this picture is the oceans waves had slowly disintegrated this houses back yard into nothing but a twenty-five foot drop. Some of the beaches on the strip of the Outer Banks was destroyed is because of the sand moving. The Hatteras lighthouse is in danger of becoming part of the ocean in a few short years. There is a fund set up through the efforts of the National Parks, conservationists, and historians to preserve the lighthouse. So what these groups plan to do is move the lighthouse out of danger. People are going to move it to the bay side of the Outer Banks because the sand is going to move to the bay side. This is an example of natural erosion. Each year inches of shore line on the Outer Banks is moved to the bay side of the by wind. It is predicted that eventually the Outer Banks will be a part of the mainland North Carolina.

There are methods used to keep the Outer Banks the same know. Because the Outer Banks is a national shore line, the United States Government is making an effort to preserve the beach. The beach of the Outer Banks is said to be as natural today as it was one hundred years ago. The conservation method used to protect this shore line is to not allow and building within a certain footage of the shore line. Building on the shore will cause it to deteriorate. On the Outer Banks there is approximately one hundred feet footage of sand dunes to protect the shore. People are not only allowed to build on this dune, people are strongly urged not to walk on the dune. This is so not to destroy the important plant life in the area that is vital to the conservation effort. Those plants help keep the dune in place and thus help the shore line stay where it is. Scientist have found that roots of the plants help prevent the sand from blowing away.

There are many ways to stop erosion. People are putting black fencing around the edge of drop off land so most soil stays, or grass or other types of plants could be planted on the muddy hillsides to stop the dirt from leaving. The roots of the trees planted on the hillside also help because of their deep root system. Some of the plants with the deep root systems are some pine, Oak, and Maple.

National Parks, conservationists, and historians to preserve the lighthouse. So what these groups plan to do is move the lighthouse out of danger. People are going to move it to the bay side of the Outer Banks because the sand is going to move to the bay side. This is an example of natural erosion. Each year inches of shore line on the Outer Banks is moved to the bay side of the by wind. It is predicted that eventually the Outer Banks will be a part of the mainland North Carolina.

There are methods used to keep the Outer Banks the same know. Because the Outer Banks is a national shore line, the United States Government is making an effort to preserve the beach. The beach of the Outer Banks is said to be as natural today as it was one hundred years ago. The conservation method used to protect this shore line is to not allow and building within a certain footage of the shore line. Building on the shore will cause it to deteriorate. On the Outer Banks there is approximately one hundred feet footage of sand dunes to protect the shore. People are not only allowed to build on this dune, people are strongly urged not to walk on the dune. This is so not to destroy the important plant life in the area that is vital to the conservation effort. Those plants help keep the dune in place and thus help the shore line stay where it is. Scientist have found that roots of the plants help prevent the sand from blowing away.

There are many ways to stop erosion. People are putting black fencing around the edge of drop off land so most soil stays, or grass or other types of plants could be planted on the muddy hillsides to stop the dirt from leaving. The roots of the trees planted on the hillside also help because of their deep root system. Some of the plants with the deep root systems are some pine, Oak, and Maple.

Bibliography Porritt, Jonathon. Save The Earth, Atlanta: Trner Publishing Inc. 1991.

Gore, Al, Senator. Earth In The Balance, New York: Hought Mifflin co. 1992.

Microsoft, corporation. Encarta 97, New York: Hought Miffin co. 1996.

Hypothesis What the hypothesis is that the side with grass will let fewer dirt out than the side without grass. What the hypothesis is based on is that grass has a deep root system and dirt doesn’t have one at all. The thing that is also being based on that is the research books. The book said that a deeper root t system also causes the dirt to stay in place.

Purpose The purpose of this experiment is to solve the cause and effect of erosion

Materials Eight two by fours A twenty - four by twenty -one piece of ply wood Forty pounds of dirt Two pounds of grass seed

Liquid nails Sixteen screws

Procedure 1. Construct an experimental control box.

2. Weigh out twenty pounds of dirt and put into the experimental side of the box.

3. Sprinkle grass seed in the experimental side of the box, water it two to three times a day.

4. Once the grass is done growing put the other twenty pounds into the control side.

5. Let different variations down both sides and record the results. Do it for five times at the different variations of water.

Variables Control variables:

For my control variables I just put twenty pounds of dirt in one side. So I would just do the same thing, but with no grass. Dirt Type of water Measurement Same amount of dirt Equal sides to put dirt in

Experimental variables:

The experimental variables were the grass, and different watering measurements.

Responding variables: The Responding variables were the measurement of water.

Results No grass side Surface area 278.25 Inches of Rain Cubic inches of rain Ounces of Water* Run off Ounces Percent Dirt run

run off off in grams 1.25 347.81 192.7 180 0.93 645 1.00 278.25 154.2 152 0.99 577 0.75 208.69 115.6 79 0.68 376 0.50 139.13 77.1 40 0.52 338 0.25 69.56 38.5 15 0.39 97 Grass side Surface area 275 Inches of Rain Cubic inches of rain Ounces of Water* Run off Ounces Percent Dirt run run off off in grams 1.25 343.75 190.5 165 0.87 74 1.00 275.00 152.4 152 1.00 10 0.75 206.25 114.3 47 0.41 8 0.50 137.50 76.2 32 0.42 1 0.25 68.75 38.1 12 0.32 trace *Ounces of Water = (Cubic inches of rain/231cubic inches/gallon)*128ounces/gallon Ratio Ratio Percent Run off of dirt(No dirt) / Run off of water(No grass) /

Run off of grass inches of rain Run off of grass inches of rain 8.72 1.25 1.08 1.25 57.70 1.00 0.99 1.00 47.00 0.75 1.66 0.75 338.00 0.50 1.24 0.50 Cant calculate 0.25 1.24 0.25

Conclusion What the evidence was that made my hypothesis correct was the fact that the root system grew down far enough. An other thing that played a roll in this was the fact that the water was at different variations instead of one constant thing that would eventually erode or get rid of most of the dirt on the other side if I did it constant measurement of water and did it still consistent the experimenter would have also lost a lot of grass. There are also other ways that the experimenters hypothesis was also tied in and that was by the changing of the water measure. The reason that the experimenter had to do it that way was because in the real jungle or forest it really doesn’t just rain a foot every hour and by the experimenter doing this that way it also ties it in with real life rain falls. This is also because the experimenter chose in when to make it rain. If the experimenter did it when ever it rain, and how many inches it rained it would have varied to much. The way this also ties in with the statement of problem is because in real life the grass will still have the same effect on erosion.

Questions for further study 1. Will there be more erosion in the future. 2. Do tree roots protect the soil from more soil loss. 3. Are there any other foreign problems with erosion. 4. Are there any other types of erosion that I do not know of. 5. Does erosion effect an water or sea anatomy.

Other Related Sites Soil and Water Conservation Society

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

Land, Air, and Water Resources Club

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank my mom for helping me with my writing for this project. I would also like to thank my dad for helping me build my box.

Send your comments to: ROCKII