Week 5: 10/27/15

This week, we observed several changes in our ecosystem.  There is now condensation on the inside top of the bottle and on the inside bottom of the tier of the bottle  that was facing the window.  In prior weeks, we have observed condensation, but it is on the side of the bottle that was facing the not window. The cotton string that connects the top and bottom bottle is emerging above the soil and the string is now a dirty color. In the bottom tier,  The elodea is partially sticking out of the water.  The part that is under water is still relatively green but the part that is sticking out of the water is browning, with one part sticking to the bottle that looks slimy.  The water level has gone down some but is still pretty clear.  We see two daphnia swimming around and two snails. In the top tier, the plants are looking healthy but there some sort of white, fuzzy substance growing onto them and the plants itself are sticking to the sides of the bottle.   We believe that we have had good growth and life sustainability throughout our ecosystem thus far.  Here are several pictures from this week:

We predict that we will continue to have good growth and life sustainability in our ecosystem.  

Questions for thought:

We wonder why the condensation is now on the side of the bottle that is facing the window, when in the past, it was only on the side of the bottle that was not facing the window.

Why would the cotton string look dirty now?

Here is the terrarium and you get an overview of our observations from above. 

Here you can really get a good view of the condensation that was discussed.  

The plants are sticking to the sides of the bottle and appear to be slimy looking.

Here is the string that connects the top bottle to the bottom one.  

Our overall ecosystem terrarium on week 5. 

Week 4 10/20/15

This week our terrarium continued to show growth. In the top, soil tier, the roots from all of the deeds are continuing to grow through the dirt and are visible at the side of the bottle. The flowers sprouts have also continued to grow, but not as much as the bean sprouts. The plants growing in the top of our terrarium have started to sprout beans along with the leaves at the top of the plants.  The elodea plant is still submerged under water and green, the sprout on the side of it is still the only piece out of water.  There is condensation on the bottle on the side that was away from the window in the hallway where our ecosystem was stored.   The water looks pretty clear now, without a brownish tint. We can't tell what it is, but there is something hanging on one of the strings in the water, we think it could be a baby snail.  We have observed a daphnia swimming around, but not the other one.  This week we will have both pictures and individual drawings of our two-tier terrarium.

We predict that our ecosystem will continue to do well and the flora and fauna will continue to thrive.

Questions for thought:

Is there a difference in taking a photograph and drawing a picture with a pen or pencil? Does one way of providing a record require more noticing that the other? Why?

Here are our pictures for the week:

This is a hand-drawn picture of the top portion of the terrarium, the soil ecosystem.  

This is the few view of our two-tier terrarium for week 4. 

You can see the more-clear water and the green elodea.  

The leaves have started to sprout from the plants that are growing.

The roots continue to grow throughout the soil.  

We have a  drawing of our terrarium.  In the picture above the final drawing, you can clearly see the condensation.  

Week 3: 10/13/15

Our ecosystem this week has had a lot changes this week including some significant growth and probably a death.  5 out of our 6 seeds that were planted have sprouted and there are a lot of roots growing in throughout the dirt and top part of the ecosystem. One of the beans has attached itself to the wall of the upper bottle. The tallest plant is about 20 cm.  In the bottom tier, the water level is 10.4 cm and the water is clear with a slight brown tint.  Our elodea plant is still pretty green and there is one sprout off of it that is above the water but the rest of it is still submerged.  There are less particles floating around than there were last week.  We can see that one of the snails is underneath a rock. We can see one daphnia that we think has died.  There is still some condensation and it is on the side that was away from the window.  Pictures to follow!

We predict that the plants in the soil will continue to grow well. We predict that the other daphnia will also die. We predict that the water plant will continue to grow well.

Questions for thought:

Why do you think the water has a slightly brown tint? Do you think it will become even darker colored or do you think it will stay mostly clear? Why?

The plants that have sprouted in the top portion of the terrarium and the bean that has attached itself to the wall.  

This is the portion of the elodea that is no longer submerged under water. 

The water level and mostly clear water is visible in this picture. 

Here are the roots of the various plants that have been growing in our terrarium.

In these pictures, you can see how much our plants sprouted from week 2 to 3.  The roots very visibly started to sprout through the soil which you can see in picture second from the bottom.  In pictures 2 and 3 you can clearly see how green our elodea plant is!