Lab # 2: How does your biome grow?
Bethany Simonson
Problem: What impact do abiotic factors have on biomes?
Hypothesis: If I add many abiotic factors, then the seed won’t grow because the abiotic
factors are competing with the seed.
Materials:
Two 2 Liter bottle
Soil
Dead Flowers
Clover
Grass
Pinecones
Flower seeds
Rocks
Water
2 Straws
Procedures:
1. Fill each bottle with 3 inches of soil.
2. Add the Dead flowers, clover, grass, pinecones, and rocks to one bottle.
3. Using two straws put together put the flower seed one inch below the dirt in each
bottle.
4. Add water to both bottles.
5. Put lids back on top to conceal the biome.
Data & Observations:
No flower grew in either biome. The variable biome smells like methane gas. The
grass turned brown. All of organic matter has compressed so that the bottle appears to be
only half full, when it was completely full in the beginning. The flower that was yellow
and orange in the variable biome has lost all of it color. The dirt has compacted in both
biomes. The control biome has dry soil.
Analyze & Conclude:
1. On which abiotic factor did you focus? Why?
We focused on the abiotic factors soil, water and air because these are the
necessary things for plants to grow.
2. Did this abiotic factor seem to have a significant impact on the dependent variable
in your simulated ecosystem? Explain.
These abiotic factors had a negative impact on the dependent variable in our
simulated ecosystem because there may not have been the adequate levels of each
abiotic factor, which made it so that the seed did not grow.
3. Describe the control in your experiment. What was held constant in the control?
Why was it set up that way?
The control was a bottle that contained only soil, air and water. The constants in
both bottles were soil, water and seed. It was set up this way to see if the organic
matter made a difference in the growing of the seed.
4. How does your experiment relate to biomes and abiotic factors in nature?
Our experiment relates to biomes and abiotic factors in nature showed that if there
aren’t the adequate levels of abiotic factors, then a seed will not grow, and organic
matter doesn’t necessarily affect the growing of the seed.
5. What are some possible sources of error in your experiment?
The lid on the constant biome bottle was moved at some point in the experiment.
The amounts of water and soil in the two different bottles were not equal.
6. Exchange your procedure and data with another group in your class. What do
their data show about the biome they chose to simulate? What conclusions can
you draw about the abiotic factors in a biome?
The results in the other groups were similar to ours. There may not have been
enough time for the seed to grow into a plant. Abiotic factors in a biome are very
important because without the adequate levels, a seed will not grow.
7. What are the limitations of the design of this experiment? Are there additional
factors at work?
Time was one of the limitations of the design of this experiment. Additional
factors at work were the amounts organic matter, not enough sunlight because of
where they were placed in the room.
Write and Discuss
Write a short paragraph describing your findings and indicating whether or not they
support your hypothesis. Discuss any questions your results have raised.
1. Describe the rainfall pattern and abiotic factors that make up the biome you live
in. How do these factors impact the plants, animals, and agriculture in your area?
The rainfall patterns are very sparse in our biome. The soil is mostly sand and
some clay in our biome and the air is cold in the winter.These impact the plants,
animals and agriculture in our area because only plants, animals and agriculture
that can tolerate the low levels of water and cold temperatures in winter will grow
in this area.
2. If you were to maintain your biomes in the classroom or at home, what abiotic
factors would you change from your original model? Make a prediction about
what you would observe under the new conditions.
If I were to maintain my biomes at home, I would add smaller amounts of water
to the biome at frequent intervals. Also, I would place the bottle near sunlight. I
believe that This would probably help the seed to grow in the control and show
more adequately how organic matter effects how plants grow.