2022-11-22
第一天
Water: filled about half of the bottom bottle with spring water; water is clear
Elodea: healthy; 12 cm in length; floating near the top of the water
Snails: 2 healthy, small snails added; adjusting nicely, sticking to the side of the bottle
Daphnia: 5 daphnia added; active and visible
Seeds: 3 pole bean seeds planted shallowly in the organic soil
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Week 2
Water: water is still clear; we marked the water level to see if our system is really closed or if we are losing water
Elodea: still floating; slightly brown on the edges/tips
Snails: only one snail is stuck to the side of the bottle; other snail is on the gravel
Daphnia: not visible, perhaps hiding near the bottom
Seeds: 2 beans fully sprouted (each about the length of a pencil); other seed is "hooked" and in the process of sprouting
Soil: roots are visible in the soil
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Ecosystem in a Bottle: Week 3
Water: water is still clear; water level is a little lower than it was last week, leading us to believe we did not succeed in creating a truly closed system; condensation is found on both the top and the bottom half of the ecosystem
Elodea: still floating; slightly brown on the edges; a new sprig is growing!
Snails: both snails stuck to the top of the bottom bottle; possible a third (baby) snail
Daphnia: still not visible, although there are plenty of the exoskeletons in the water
Seeds: all 3 bean seeds have sprouted; they have grown upwards as much as possible and are now "curving" and growing along the top of the bottle
Soil: roots are still visible in the soil; the bean casings have fallen off and can be seen on top of the soil
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Week 4
Water: water is still clear; water level does not seem to have gone down any since last week
Elodea: still floating; slightly brown on the edges; new sprig that appeared last week is about 3x longer than it was
Snails: both snails stuck to the bottle, in the water
Daphnia: still no sign of the daphnia
Seeds/ leaves: plants are still growing and "curving" along the top of the bottle; some of the leaves are yellowing
Soil: roots are still visible in the soil; the bean casings that fell off can still be seen on top of the soil
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Ecosystem in a Bottle: Week 5
Water: The water in our ecosystem is still clear. The water level seems a bit lower, but there is quite a bit of condensation in the top of the system that could explain why the level has gone down.
**Elodea: **The elodea is still floating in the water. The original spring is still slightly brown on the edges. The new sprig, however, looks very healthy with longer, very green leaves. The entire elodea plant has roots that are traveling down to the gravel at the bottom of the ecosystem (as seen in the first picture) which we assume is happening so that the plant can anchor itself down as it grows larger and longer.
Snails: Only one snail was stuck to the side of the bottle. The smaller snail was on the gravel at the bottom. We hope it's still alive.
Daphnia: The daphnia are still not visible, although any time the ecosystem bottle is moved, you can see tons of daphnia exoskeletons swirling around.
Seeds/Leaves: We have about 5 leaves that are turning very yellow (see picture 2) and some are actually turning brown on the end. We observed our TA's ecosystem and found that she did not have any yellow leaves. She put more soil in her ecosystem, leading us to believe our leaves are yellowing due to a nitrogen deficiency that is keeping the plant from making enough chlorophyll. (Read the Wiki Page on Nitrogen Deficiency Here)
**Soil: **The roots of the bean plants are still visible in the soil. There are roots that are now poking out of the top of the soil.
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Week 6
Water: The water in our ecosystem is still clear. The water level seems a bit lower, but there is quite a bit of condensation in the top of the system that could explain why the level has gone down.
Elodea: The elodea is still floating in the water. The color of the elodea seems to have improved. It looked rejuvenated. The entire elodea plant has seven roots that are traveling down to the gravel at the bottom of the ecosystem which we assume is happening so that the plant can anchor itself down as it grows larger and longer.
Snails: Only one snail was stuck to the side of the bottle. The smaller snail was on the gravel at the bottom. We hope it's still alive.
Daphnia: The daphnia are still not visible, although any time the ecosystem bottle is moved, you can see tons of daphnia exoskeletons swirling around.
Seeds/Leaves: More leaves are turning yellow and some are actually turning completely brown. There are a couple of leaves stuck to the side of the ecosystem. Our bean plants are looking pretty sad. As we noted last week, we discovered that we didn't put enough soil so the plants are suffering from a nitrogen deficiency.
Soil: The roots of the bean plants are still visible in the soil. There are roots that are now poking out of the top of the soil.
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Ecosystem in a Bottle: Week 8
WATER: THE WATER IN OUR ECOSYSTEM IS STILL CLEAR. THE WATER LEVEL IS A LITTLE LOWER THAN LAST WEEK. THE CONDENSATION HAS ALSO INCREASED. AS SEEN ABOVE.
ELODEA: THE ELODEA IS STILL FLOATING IN THE WATER. IT APPEARS TO HAVE QUADRUPLED IN LENGTH AT THIS POINT. THE ROOTS ARE CONTINUING TO GROW TOWARDS THE ROCKS.
SNAILS: THE SNAILS WERE HANGING OUT IN THE GRAVEL TODAY. WE THINK THEY ARE STILL ALIVE BECAUSE THEY'RE ANCHORED TO THE ROCKS.
DAPHNIA: THE DAPHNIA ARE STILL NOT VISIBLE, ALTHOUGH ANY TIME THE ECOSYSTEM BOTTLE IS MOVED, YOU CAN SEE TONS OF DAPHNIA EXOSKELETONS SWIRLING AROUND. THAT SAID, WE HAVEN'T SEEN LIVE DAPHNIA SINCE THE SECOND WEEK.
SEEDS/LEAVES: WE HAVE A GREEN LEAF! JUST ONE, BUT THERE ARE SOME LITTLE GREEN SPRIGS PROTRUDING FROM THE STEM OF THE PLANTS, INCLUDING THOSE WE THOUGHT WERE DEAD BECAUSE OF THEIR SICKLY STATE. THERE ARE ALSO NEW ROOTS COMING FROM ALL OF THE PLANT STEMS. WE SUSPECT THE NEW ROOTS ARE GOING TO GROW TOWARDS THE SOIL, AS THEY ARE SEARCHING FOR NUTRIENTS.
SOIL: THE ROOTS OF THE BEAN PLANTS ARE STILL VISIBLE IN THE SOIL. THERE ARE ROOTS THAT ARE NOW POKING OUT OF THE TOP OF THE SOIL.
Week 11
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WATER: THE WATER IN OUR ECOSYSTEM IS STILL CLEAR. EVEN THOUGH WE POKED A HOLE IN OUR ECOSYSTEM LAST WEEK, THE WATER LEVEL DOES NOT SEEM TO HAVE GONE DOWN ANY. WE STILL HAVE CONDENSATION IN THE TOP AND BOTTOM OF THE BOTTLE.
ELODEA: THE ELODEA IS STILL FLOATING IN THE WATER AND LOOKS VERY HEALTHY. IN FACT, IT IS REALLY THE ONLY PART OF THIS ECOSYSTEM THAT SEEMS TO HAVE SURVIVED IN THE ENVIRONMENT.
SNAILS: THE SNAILS ARE BOTH SITTING ON THE GRAVEL AT THE BOTTOM. THEY ARE NOT STUCK TO THE SIDE OF THE BOTTLE, WHICH MAKES US THINK THEY MAY BE DECEASED.
DAPHNIA: THE DAPHNIA ARE STILL NOT VISIBLE. THE EXOSKELETONS ARE NOT EVEN APPARENT ANYMORE. WE BELIEVE THEY ARE LONG GONE.
SEEDS/LEAVES: ALL OF OUR LEAVES ARE COMPLETELY DEAD. OUR PLANT STALKS HAVE SHRIVELED AND ARE TURNING YELLOW/BROWN. THE HOLE WE POKED IN THE BOTTLE DOES NOT SEEM TO HAVE IMPROVED THE HEALTH OF OUR ECOSYSTEM.
SOIL: THERE ARE STILL SOME ROOTS THAT ARE VISIBLE, BUT WE DO NOT THINK THERE ARE ANY NEW ROOTS. IT SEEMS OUR ECOSYSTEM HAS RUN ITS COURSE.
FINAL NOTE: OUR ECOSYSTEM EXPERIMENT WAS QUITE INTERESTING. WE CAN DEFINITELY SEE HOW THESE CLOSED ECOSYSTEMS COULD BE BENEFICIAL IN OUR CLASSROOMS. IN A CLASS OF YOUNGER STUDENTS, WE WOULD CONSIDER USING ONE CLASS ECOSYSTEM FOR OBSERVATION RATHER THAN INDIVIDUAL ECOSYSTEMS; HOWEVER, OLDER STUDENTS WOULD LIKELY BENEFIT FROM MAKING AND OBSERVING THEIR OWN/GROUP ECOSYSTEMS. WE BELIEVE THAT IF WE HAD ADDED MORE SOIL TO THE SYSTEM AND/OR ADDED FEWER SEEDS, OUR PLANTS WOULD HAVE FARED MUCH BETTER BECAUSE THERE WOULD BE A SUFFICIENT AMOUNT OF NUTRIENTS TO KEEP THE BEAN PLANTS HEALTHY. THE BOTTOM OF OUR ECOSYSTEM LOOKS HEALTHY, LEADING US TO BELIEVE THAT THE TOP HALF OF THE SYSTEM WAS MALNOURISHED ONCE THE SOIL WAS DEPLETED OF NUTRIENTS. NEXT TIME AROUND, WE WOULD ADD MORE SOIL, OBSERVE FOR A LONGER PERIOD OF TIME POST POKING A HOLE IN THE ECOSYSTEM/POKE THE HOLE AS SOON AS THE PLANTS STARTED TO TAKE A TURN FOR THE WORST, AND ADDED MORE DAPHNIA. IF WE WERE WORKING WITH A CLASS OF OLDER STUDENTS, THEY COULD FURTHER INVESTIGATE THEIR OWN QUESTIONS PERTAINING TO THE COMPLETION OF THE ECOSYSTEM PROJECT (I.E., HOW DOES THE AMOUNT OF SOIL AFFECT THE GROWTH OF THE PLANTS, WHY DOES THE ELODEA SEEM TO BE THRIVING, WHY DID THE DAPHNIA DISAPPEAR SO QUICKLY, WHAT COULD BE ADDED TO THE ECOSYSTEM INSTEAD OF THE DAPNIA, ETC.)
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