Level 6 Guiding Question: Isn't all soil the same soil?
The components of color explained by Professor A.H. Munsell ( inventor of the Munsell color system.)
HueIt merely refers to some point in the spectrum of all colors........ familiar to us in every-day use — red, yellow, green, blue and purple. These we will call the Simple Hues.......yellow-red, green-yellow, blue-green, purple-blue and red-purple and they will be known as Compound Hues. Orange, for example, is called yellow-red because it is a mixture of these two hues. |
ValveThe quality by which we distinguish a light color from a dark one. It told us, for example, that it was red and not green, but we know that there may be light red and dark red, and it is the function of this dimension of Value to tell us how light or how dark a given color may be. |
ChromaGrowing grayer or weaker in color strength until it loses its color entirely, we have grasped the idea of the dimension known as Chroma. By dividing this into regular measured steps, we have a scale upon which the strength of color may be measured. This is clearly illustrated on the colored diagram already referred to, where several steps of Yellow are shown printed on the scale of Chroma. |
attribution: written by, Thomas Maitland Cleland (http://munsell.com/color-blog/a-grammar-of-color-definition-hue-value-chroma/)
Read the above article and complete the form below.
Alternative Assignment: Instead of doing this form you could make a 60 sec or less VDO on "What are the 3 components of the Munsell Color System and what so the mean?"
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Level 6 Investigation: How to use the Munsell Soil Color system
Munsell Color System
Red, brown, yellow, yellowish-red, grayish-brown, and pale red are all good descriptive colors of soil, but not very exact. Just as paint stores have pages of color chips, soil scientists use a book of color chips that follow the Munsell System of Color Notation (www.munsell.com ). The Munsell System allows for direct comparison of soils anywhere in the world. The system has three components: hue (a specific color), value (lightness and darkness), and chroma (color intensity) that are arranged in books of color chips. Soil is held next to the chips to find a visual match and assigned the corresponding Munsell notation. For example, a brown soil may be noted as: hue value/chroma (10YR 5/3). With a soil color book with Munsell notations, a science student or teacher can visually connect soil colors with natural environments of the area, and students can learn to read and record the color, scientifically. S |
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Level 6 Videos: How to use the Munsell Soil Color system
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Level 6 Elaborate: Color of the soil can determine soil capability & use
Soil color and other properties including texture, structure, and consistence are used to distinguish and identify soil horizons (layers) and to group soils according to the soil classification system called Soil Taxonomy. Color development and distribution of color within a soil profile are part of weathering. As rocks containing iron or manganese weather, the elements oxidize. Iron forms small crystals with a yellow or red color, organic matter decomposes into black humus, and manganese forms black mineral deposits. These pigments paint the soil. Color is also affected by the environment: aerobic environments produce sweeping vistas of uniform or subtly changing color, and anaerobic ( lacking oxygen), wet environments disrupt color flow with complex, often intriguing patterns and points of accent. With depth below the soil surface, colors usually become lighter, yellower, or redder.
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Listen to VDO to hear how color can affect soil characteristics.
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Adapted from: Lynn, W.C. and Pearson, M.J., The Color of Soil, The Science Teacher, May 2000.
Level 6 Review: Soil Color |
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