Name______________________________ Period ____ Date_______ Score___/25
Partner_____________________________ (APES: Chapter 10)
Permeability Lab
Purpose: To determine which material has the highest permeability; Sand, Fine
Gravel, or Coarse Gravel?
Hypothesis:
If water is filtered through sand, fine gravel, or coarse gravel, then water will move
_____________ through the ___________________ because
(faster or slower)
(sand, fine gravel or coarse gravel)
permeability describes the ___________________________________________
(explain what you know about permeability)
______________________________________________________________________________
Open End
Materials:
1 clear tube (open on both ends)
Sand, Fine Gravel, Coarse Gravel
1 Rubber Band
1 graduated cylinder (50 ml)
3 small squares of cheesecloth
1 Stopwatch
Clear
Tube
Procedure:
Open End
1) Fasten the two squares of cheesecloth to one end of the tube using the rubber band
2) Fill the first clear tube ¼ filled with sand
3) Mark the top of the sand with a small piece of tape
4) Measure out 50 ml of water into the graduated cylinder.
5) In a moment you will pour out the water into the open side of the tube.
6) Using a stopwatch, time how long it takes from when the water first percolates into the
sand until there is no longer a stream of water flowing out the bottom.
7) Record the time below
8) Clean up by emptying the tube into the proper locations (as determined by your teacher).
9) Repeat steps 2 – 8 for the two types of Gravel.
Results (3 pts)
Substrate
Time
Sand
Fine Gravel
Coarse Gravel
Graph Permeability (Permeability Time vs. Substrate Tested) (5 points)
Graphing Tipsinclude:
 Title
 Labels on
axes
 Equal
spacing
 Uniform
numbering
 Key if
necessary
 Neatness
Conclusion: (5 pts)
The hypothesis that the water would move ___________ in a ______________ substrate was or was not
supported (underline the correct situation). Explain what your data shows about the different
substrates tested and their permeability? Tie this back to how your hypothesis to show how it was
supported or not supported. Be accurate and specific. (3 pts.)
Post Lab Questions=5 pts.
1) Draw models of the following from your data and your observations:
a. Water in soil with a highest
permeability within a water table:
Be sure to draw the
soil particle size and
the water position.
Type of soil:____________
b. Water in soil with the lowest
permeability within a water table:
Be sure to draw the
soil particle size and
the water position.
Type of soil:____________
2) State a real-life situation which would tell you/me why understanding permeability is important
component of water movement in an ecosystem.
3) If there is a 10 ppm pollutant present in the water in a sandy or loamy soil, would the
pollutant/water travel faster or slower into the water table? Explain.
4) If there is a 10 ppm pollutant present in the water of a mostly coarse
gravel, would the pollutant/water travel faster or slower into the
soil? Explain why.
5) Water surface runoff will generally be greatest when the
A) ground is permeable and unsaturated
B) rainfall is light and the ground is permeable
C) infiltration rate is greater than the rainfall rate
D) slope of the land is too great to permit infiltration
6) Most infiltration of precipitation will occur when the Earth's soil is
A) saturated and permeable
C) saturated and impermeable
B) unsaturated and impermeable
D) unsaturated and permeable
7) Which earth material covering the surface of a landfill would permit the least
amount of rainwater to infiltrate the surface?
A) sand
C) pebbles
B) silt
D) clay
Clean Up: After this lab, please: (5 points)
1) Please put different for the soil substrates
into the appropriate bins to dry.
2) Disassemble tubes and throw away
cheesecloth.
3) Wash out permeability tubes.
4) Wipe off tables thoroughly.
5) Put all items back into basket on table.
Teacher Initials_________________