Illustrated Guide to Home Forensic Science Experiments

Chapter 4. Lab I-2 Examine the Physical Characteristics of Soil

Equipment and Materials

You’ll need the following items to complete this lab session. (The standard kit for this book, available from http://www.thehomescientist.com, includes the items listed in the first group.)

Materials from Kit

• Goggles

• Cylinder, graduated, 100 mL

• Mesh, fiberglass

• Pipettes

• Reaction plate, 24-well

• Stirring rod

• Test tubes

• Test tube rack

Materials you Provide

• Gloves

• Balance

• Cups, foam

• Dishwashing liquid detergent

• Drying dishes (see text)

• Oven

• Paint chips (see text)

• Paper (copy paper, newspaper, or similar)

• Pen, felt-tip marking

• Sieves (optional; see text)

• Soda bottle, 1 L or 2 L (clean and empty)

• Specimens: soil, known and questioned

• Ultraviolet light source (optional)

• Watch or clock with ...