What Is Soil Texture?

This lab activity aims to determine the physical properties of soil, specifically soil texture. Soil texture is an essential property of soils because it influences water movement and storage, aeration, nutrient and contaminant adsorptive capacity, excavation difficulty, and ease of tillage. Soil texture is determined by the relative amounts of sand, silt, and clay particles in the soil. The lab activity involves two exercises: determining soil texture using the hand feel method and the jar method. The soil textural triangle is then used to determine the texture class. The lab activity also involves estimating the percent by volume of coarse fragments in the soil sample and comparing the results from both methods.