Name__________________________________________________________ Date__________________________
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.
Part 2: Construction
There will be two phases of eco-column construction. The first phase will be the assembly of the ecocolumn and the addition of all abiotic components and plants (terrestrial and aquatic). Assemble your eco-column according to the column assembly on Page 3. Building instructions are on Page 4. Other organisms will be added one week after the initial construction once the ecosystem has stabilized.
Part 3: 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.
• Take a picture of your eco-column.
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.
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Name__________________________________________________________ Date__________________________
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 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
• Water
• 6 clear 2-liter bottles with lids
• Soil, sand and aquarium gravel
• All construction materials and tools except 2-liter bottles
• Compost Materials
• Any additional organisms (plants or animals) you would like to include
• Leaf litter
• Aquatic organisms: fish (feeder minnow fish), snails, aquatic plants
• Compost organism: pillbugs
• Terrestrial plant seeds and grass
• Miniature objects for pond bottom and terrestrial layer
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__________________________
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Name__________________________________________________________ Date__________________________
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).
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 near the windows.
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__________________________
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.
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.
• 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)
• 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.)
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Name__________________________________________________________ Date__________________________
• 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.
• 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.
Works cited (5 points)
• Must include at least 3 appropriate sources in MLA format.
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Name__________________________________________________________ Date__________________________
Date: _______________ Time: ____________ Name(s): __________
Describe Odor _______________________________________________
Aquatic Fauna (animals) Observations_______________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Aquatic Flora (plants) Observations_________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Compost Observations___________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Organism Observations___________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Terrestrial Fauna________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Terrestrial Flora________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
OTHER SIGNIFICANT OBSERVATIONS __________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
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Name__________________________________________________________ Date__________________________
Date: _______________ Time: ____________ Name(s): __________
pH: __________________________
Nutrient Levels:
Potassium: _____________________
Phosphorus: __________________________
Nitrogen: _________________________
pH: ___________________________
Temperature: ___________________________
Nitrate: ___________________________
Phosphate: ___________________________
Dissolved Oxygen: ___________________________
Turbidity: ___________________________
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