Name__________________________________________________________ Date__________________________
ECO-COLUMN PROJECT
PURPOSE:
The purpose of this lab is to create simulated ecosystems in an effort to learn about ecosystems in the real
world. You will create, maintain and monitor an eco-column within a small group. You will write a lab
report independently.
PROCEDURAL OVERVIEW:
Part 1: Plan your eco-column
1. First familiarize yourself with the project and eco-columns. Look over the assembly diagram to
understand each chamber.
2. Identify a specific ecological problem that you would like to investigate through the creation and
observation of your eco-column. As a group, write a problem statement that can be answered
through observation and data collection during this project.
3. Write a hypothesis that answers your problem statement. Provide justification for your hypothesis.
Note: You may choose to alter your hypothesis after you complete Part 2 of this project based on
new information, but write a hypothesis now using your prior knowledge and understanding of
ecosystems.
4. Decide what components to include in each section (which organisms, type of soil, etc.). See the lists
on page 3 for ideas. Think about all the requirements of the various organisms to survive (biotic and
abiotic). If you don’t provide these requirements, your organisms will quickly die. Make sure that
you can feasibly acquire all the organisms you choose. Decide who in the group will be responsible
for obtaining each organism.
Your Eco-Column Plan (one per group) is due __________________.
Part 2: Background Research
Conduct background research to acquire additional information. You will create a bibliography and write
a one page summary of the information you obtain which will become the background section of your
final laboratory report. This summary must include information on the following topics:
 General eco-column information
 Information related to Biodome and Biosphere projects that have occurred around the world
 Information pertaining to the problem you are investigating with your eco-column
Each student needs at least 3 credible sources of information. All sources may be websites and students
within the same group may share sources with one another.
The 1-page summary of Background Information & a bibliography
in MLA format (one per person) is due _______________________.
Part 3: Construction
There will be two phases of eco-column construction. The first phase will be the assembly of the ecocolumn and the additional of all abiotic components and plants (terrestrial and aquatic). Assemble your
eco-column according to the column assembly on Page 4. Building instructions are on Page 5. Other
organisms will be added one week after the initial construction once the ecosystem has stabilized.
Phase One of Construction will occur _________________________.
Aquatic and Terrestrial Fauna will be added ___________________.
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Name__________________________________________________________ Date__________________________
Part 4: Observation and Data Collection
You will conduct weekly observations of you eco-column. Each observation will include:
 The date of your measurement
 The number of days your eco-column has been running
 Aquatic habitat observations: plant growth, fish status, decomposition rate, odor
 Decomposition rate within compost habitat, animal status
 Plant growth and animal status in the terrestrial layer.
You will be permitted to add water at the top of your eco-column during each weekly observation. Any
other additions/alterations should be kept to a minimum.
You will conduct more extensive soil and water measurements at the start, mid-point, and end of the
experiment.
Part 5: Presentation of Experiment
Part of the scientific method involves disseminating and sharing what you have learned. You will do this
in the form of a PowerPoint presentation (done as a group) and a lab write-up (completed independently).
Make sure you keep good records in your lab book during the investigation so that you are not missing
anything when it comes time to write. (See pages 6 – 8 of this handout). You will also want to take
photographs throughout the experiment to include in the PowerPoint presentation.
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Name__________________________________________________________ Date__________________________
IDEAS FOR CHAMBER COMPONENTS:
AQUATIC HABITAT
 Fine grained aquarium gravel (provides “bedrock”)
 Sand or topsoil (provides bottom sediment)
 Untreated tap water or distilled water (provides aquatic habitat)
 “Boulders,” “sunken logs,” and other miniature objects typical of a pond bottom
 Aquatic plants and animals
COMPOST HABITAT
 Fine grained aquarium gravel (provides “bedrock”)
 Sand/topsoil mix (provides soil substrate)
 Leaf litter (provides compost habitat)
 A few (finely cut up) chunks of turnips, potato, apple, or other roots, stems, or fruits
 Twigs
 Earthworms, pill bugs, millipedes, and other natural inhabitants of leaf litter
TERRESTRIAL HABITAT
 Fine-grained aquarium gravel (provides “bedrock”)
 Topsoil (provides soil substrate)
 Leaf litter (provides decaying material)
 “Boulders,” “dead trees,” and other miniature objects typical of a forest habitat
 Terrestrial plants and animals
 Food for animals as needed
Materials Ms. H Will Provide
Materials You Must Provide

Water

Soil, sand and gravel

Compost Materials (no citrus)
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All construction materials and tools

Any additional organisms (plants or
animals) you would like to include
except 2-liter bottles

Leaf litter

Organisms for decomposition chamber.

Aquatic organisms: one fish and

Miniature objects for pond bottom and
annacharis.

terrestrial layer
Terrestrial plant seeds
NOTES: Goldfish are not a good choice. They tend to poison themselves with their own waste.
Additionally, you do not want to include too many organisms in your eco-column. They will
have difficulty surviving.
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Name__________________________________________________________ Date__________________________
BUILDING INSTRUCTIONS
1. Follow the instructions for making cuts in Column Assembly
2. Melt or drill a hole in three of the bottle caps and screw onto the cap for F, D, C. Note
cap for D also has large hole in center.
3. Insert the straw through the hole in the bottle cap of what will be the Terrestrial habitat
(bottle D). Straw should extend below cap and above soil.
4. Invert Bottle D (terrestrial habitat) over Bottle C and invert both over Bottle B (aquatic
habitat).
STOCKING INSTRUCTIONS
Aquatic habitat (Bottle A)
5. Add a layer of sand or topsoil (about 1 inch) to the deep base.
6. Add a layer of gravel (about 1 inch) on top of the sand or topsoil.
7. Add water to a level about 1 inch below the top of the cut.
8. Plant aquatic plants with roots in the bottom sediment. A chopstick will help you push the
stems or roots into the ground.
9. Arrange “boulders” and other objects on the bottom sediment.
10. Add aquatic plants.
11. Let the aquarium sit until the sediment settles.
12. Aquatic animals will be added after one week once the environment has stabilized.
Compost habitat (Bottle C)
13. Mix equal parts of sand and topsoil together and add leaf litter.
14. Mix food items in.
15. Add compost animals as needed (you may collect some with the leaf litter).
Terrestrial habitat (Bottle D)
16. Add a layer (¾ inch) of gravel to the Bottle D
17. Mix soil and potting soil together, moisten, and add a layer (3-4 inches) over the gravel.
18. Add terrestrial animals that burrow to the soil (e.g., worms).
19. Plant terrestrial plants in the soil.
20. Arrange “dead trees” and other objects on soil.
21. Terrestrial animals will be added after one week once the environment has stabilized.
Maintenance Instructions
22. Eco-columns will be placed under the grow lights. They will be provided with
approximately 8 hours of direct light daily. (They will receive additional indirect natural
sunlight.)
23. Add a small amount of water to the terrestrial habitat weekly or when it appears to be
drying out. A fine spray of water on the plants also maintains the unit well.
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Name__________________________________________________________ Date__________________________
Eco-Column PowerPoint Presentation Instructions
You will work with your lab partners to create a PowerPoint that describes your eco-column adventure
from beginning to end. You will present your PowerPoint to your classmates and the teacher.
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The PowerPoint must include at least 10 slides.
The PowerPoint must include pictures from throughout the eco-column project
The presentation must include information relating to the following phases of the project:
o Problem & Hypothesis
o Design & Construction
o Changes in eco-column over time
o The final eco-column
o Answer to the Problem Statement based on data collected
o What you learned/discovered through project
You should be able to clearly describe the information included in your presentation.
Presentations should be free of spelling and grammatical errors. They should be interesting for
the viewer but not overly cluttered or busy.
Viewing one another’s PowerPoint presentations will be beneficial during the final part of this extended
experiment, writing the lab report.
PowerPoint Presentations ______________________.
Eco-Column Lab Report Instructions
In the eco-column write-up, your job is to clearly present the information about your eco-column. Your
report should include each of the sections below. The heart of your report should be your analysis and
conclusion. Don't just answer questions ... use this write-up as an opportunity to demonstrate your
knowledge and ideas. The final report must be typed except for drawings (12-point font, double-spaced).
It should also be free of grammatical and spelling errors.
Title Page (3 point value)
Must include a title for the project and your name. You may also include the teacher’s name, dates the
experiment ran, lab partners, etc.
Background Information (at least 1 page; 10 points)
A final, revised copy of the background information submitted for Part 2 of the project.
Introduction (22 points)
1. Problem Statement
2. Hypothesis
3. A diagram of your eco-column that identifies the biotic and abiotic factors present in each
habitat. Your eco-column has a unique structure. Draw a diagram that shows your column and what
is in each section. You can list the biotic and abiotic factors along the side or in separate paragraphs.
4. Diagram of the food webs within your eco-column. Make every effort to identify the species you
have added as specifically as possible. If an organism is unidentifiable, still include a drawing of it.
 Draw each organism in a circle. Give the name if at all possible. Scientific names are best—plus
common name. You must provide the scientific name of at least 3 of your organisms.
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Name__________________________________________________________ Date__________________________
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Identify the role of each organism by putting one of the following letters just beneath the name of
the organism:
P - producer
C - consumer
D - decomposer
S - scavenger
Draw the energy arrows. These lines should go from the energy source towards the organism that
gets that energy. For example from the sun to plants in the water, or from a secondary consumer
to a tertiary consumer that eats it.
Write a discussion of your food web. Within your discussion include the following:
1. What are the top level consumers in your eco-column?
2. What would happen to these consumers if all the primary consumers were to die?
3. If the secondary consumers in one of your food chains consumed 4,200 kcal, what amount of
energy would you assume was available to the primary consumer? What amount would you
speculate will be available to tertiary consumers?
4. What would happen if the decomposers were removed?
5. What do you think is more resilient (i.e. damage resistant), a food web with many species or a
food web with just a few species? Explain your answer fully. If you can think of arguments
on both sides, discuss both.
Be sure to explain each of your responses to the above questions!
Results (data) (10 points)
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Include table(s) and/or graph(s) with data to show significant changes within your eco-column. You
will have to decide which data would be significant to show. (Try to pick data that will show change
over time.)
Include qualitative information from the disassembly of your eco-column (and the results from your
soil test).
Did you discover any unexpected organisms (for example: fungus grew or new microorganisms
appeared)? Did you not see any new organisms? Be specific on where you looked and what you
found.
BIG HINT!!! A before and after table would be a useful way to present information like numbers of
snails found, etc.
Analysis (10 points)
This part of the report explains your data and should be written in paragraph form.
1. Discuss the data for your eco-column with regard to your setup. What does your data say about what
has gone on in your eco-column? Make sure you discuss the data collected during the weekly
observations and the detailed soil and water measurements.
2. What conclusions or generalizations can you make about your eco-column and what connections can
you make to other natural systems?
3. Diagram and explain the nitrogen cycle as it occurred in your eco-column. Include the name and
description of each of the parts of the nitrogen cycle covered in class.
Conclusion (at least 2 pages; 20 points)
This is the most important part of the report!
 Decide whether or not your data and observations supported your hypothesis. Then tell us what you
learned through your research.
 Identify changes that occurred in your eco-column and why such changes occurred and their
implication as far as the health of the ecosystem is concerned.
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Name__________________________________________________________ Date__________________________
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Comment about the stability and sustainability of the various eco-columns in the classroom. Do some
eco-columns appear to be more stable than others? Why is this so?
Compare your artificial ecosystem to real ones outside the classroom. How are they similar? How are
they different? Was your eco-column a closed system or an open system or something in-between and
how does that affect it?
How is the information that you gathered useful to the whole community? In what ways would it be
useful to extend and expand this research?
Sources of Error: Identify any weaknesses in your investigation. These could include equipment
malfunctions, calculations or data collection errors, or simple human mistakes such as performing a
test incorrectly. Sources of error could also include poor experimental design. Identify at least 3
sources of error and explain how each would have impacted your data.
Bibliography (5 points)

Must include at least 3 appropriate sources in MLA format. See
http://www2.liu.edu/cwis/cwp/library/workshop/citmla.htm or use a site such as easybib.com for help
with MLA format.
The Lab Report (one per person) is due ___________________.
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Name__________________________________________________________ Date__________________________
ECO-COLUMN WEEKLY DATA COLLECTION
Date: _______________
Time: ____________
Name(s): __________
Aquatic Layer
Describe Odor _______________________________________________
Aquatic Fauna (animals) Observations_______________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Aquatic Flora (plants) Observations_________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Decomposition Layer
Compost Observations___________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Organism Observations___________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Terrestrial Layer
Terrestrial Fauna________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Terrestrial Flora________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
OTHER SIGNIFICANT OBSERVATIONS __________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
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Name__________________________________________________________ Date__________________________
ECO-COLUMN DETAILED SOIL & WATER DATA COLLECTION
Date: _______________
Time: ____________
Name(s): __________
Soil
pH: __________________________
Nutrient Levels:
Potassium: _____________________
Phosphorus: __________________________
Nitrogen: _________________________
Water
pH: ___________________________
Temperature: ___________________________
Nitrate: ___________________________
Phosphate: ___________________________
Dissolved Oxygen: ___________________________
Turbidity: ___________________________
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