Final Observation

This week is our last observation of our two-tiered terrarium. Overall, we have had significant growth and reproduction within both ecosystems.  in the top tier, we see the plants are very tall and the leaves of some are starting to stick to the inside, top and sides of the bottle. The cotton string that hangs down from the top tier into the bottom tier, is very dirty. In the bottom tier,  the water level went down a little bit causing the elodea to start to stick to the bottle.  The water level is pretty clear.  The side of the terrarium that was closest to the window has a lot of condensation.  We have spotted at least 7 snails, most of them were submerged underneath rocks except for one that was swimming around.

Most of the predictions we made over the weeks we observed our terrarium were correct. We think our 2-tier terrarium did well.  In the top tier, the seeds we planted sprouted into healthy plants and most grew all the way to the top of the bottle. In the bottom tier, the plant seemed to do well, even though the water level decreased a bit and a small section of it was above the water line. The tiny animals (daphnia and snails) that we added to the bottom tier of our terrarium, reproduced and swam around in the clear water.

How were the plants and animals in our terrarium able to thrive, grow and multiply, even though we did not feed them, or water them, or add anything at all to the enclosed space of the terrarium?

In this picture you can see how dirty the top of the string is.  

The string remains very dirty.

There was a lot of condensation around the top half of the bottle.  This was the side that was facing the window.  

These pictures are of all sides of our terrarium. In the top picture you can see one of the snails we found today.  In all of the pictures you can see how dirty the string is, the water level, condensation, and how the leafs are sticking to the sides of the bottle.  

Week 6: 11/6/15

This week we observed our terrarium  and we are continuing to have good growth throughout both ecosystems.  We have a new sprout that is starting to come out of the soil. the other plants are continuing to grow.  There are beans starting to grow off of the stems.  We can see there are lots of roots growing within the soil. There is a lot of condensation on the top half of the terrarium and also on the top half of water ecosystem portion.  The elodea is still pretty clean with the same part still sticking out of the water.   There is mold on the top of the soil by where the string is, which is sticking up above the soil. The string appears to be very dirty. We are unsure if that part of the string was sticking out before. The part of the string that is in the water is very dirty.  The water level may have gone down some.  It is pretty clear with only a few particles floating around. Overall, we are continuing to have good growth.

We predict our 2-tier terrarium will continue to do well.

Questions for thought:

How do you think the mold got inside our terrarium?

Here you can tell that most of the elodea is pretty green with most of it remaining submerged under water.  

Our plants are growing well and you can see how green the sprouts are.  

The string is very dirty.

The roots are continuing to grow throughout the soil, the top tier portion of our terrarium. 

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.