Terrarium Lab
Introduction/Objective: Work with a partner to design and create a terrarium and use it to study the ecosystem that you have created.
Hypothesis: The plants are going to grow by obtaining energy from the sun, and gain nutrients from soil. The worm will live in the soil and keep it nutritious, keeping plants healthy. The snail will complete the look of the terrarium and will also be fed by the plants, being consumers. We also planted vegetables and flowers that smell good to attract beneficial insects and to feed us. We are curious to find out if our flowers will be able to feed insects like earwigs, and if they will grow really big. Also, we are wondering if one of our live moss will grow too fast and take over our terrarium, or if it will become self sustaining from the earthworms and the earwigs. Materials: a glass container with diameter of 22 cm, potting soil, activated charcoal, gravel/pebbles, plant seeds (flowers and vegetables), ferns, live moss, earthworms, earwigs Methods and Procedure: First, we put down the pebbles, to have something that the water can sit in and drain through. Second, we poured the activated charcoal to absorb some of the draining water and keep the soil moist. Next, we poured the soil and wet it a little bit, for the earthworms. Finally, we planted the live plants and the seeds, and watered the completed terrarium. |
Day Eight: After watering our terrarium each day (besides the weekends), we noticed that the moss has grown about 1.5 cm. We decided to add a log for aesthetic and for the worms to have another area in their habitat to crawl on. Unfortunately, many of the worms we initially added have died due to the quality of the soil. We added more potting soil.
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Day Twenty-Seven: We noticed that from watering the rotting log, there have been a few creatures that we have discovered in the terrarium. These organisms are consuming the moss we had originally added to the garden, and then decomposing the plants to create better soil for the plant saplings we have also noticed growing. This cycle will eventually help the plants grow and thrive in the terrarium, making a better home for the snails, spiders, and earthworms.
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Terrarium Lab Analysis:
Our terrarium had many limiting factors that affected it throughout the growth of the terrarium. The abiotic factors were the amount of sunlight that directed hit the terrarium, the quality of the soil, the water collected at the bottom of the container to keep the organisms moist, the pebbles/gravel sitting atop near the plants, the rotting log on which moss grew, and the temperature. The sunlight was able to positively affect the ecosystem, since the location near the window where it was kept stayed warmer than other areas and allowed for better nutrition and growth of the moss and other plants. The water and soil also helped the terrarium, as the water we added to the soil kept the earthworms' food oxygen-full and nutritious. The water that moistened the soil also affected the mosses in a good way, as it kept them from drying out. The temperature of the classroom in which they were kept was a negative effect, as it got significantly colder at night, and the plants we had were meant to be kept at room temperature. Some of the biotic factors in the terrarium were the earthworms, the moss on the rotting log, and the plants growing from the potting soil. The moss was food for the earthworms, just like the soil. The earthworms regulated the soil, just like the snails. The plants provided food and a part of the creatures' habitats.
In the terrarium, the water cycle played a huge part. When we watered the plants and soil, it was taken up through the roots of the moss and the plants. Some of the water also turned into ground water and seeped through to the gravel at the bottom of the container. The water taken by the plants and the rotting log allowed for greater growth. From the sunlight, water was evaporated into the air again. The carbon cycle in the terrarium started with the CO2 in the classroom, and through photosynthesis was absorbed by the plants and moss. The plants then gave off oxygen for the earthworms to consume. When some of the earthworms died, their decomposition gave more CO2 to the soil. The nitrogen cycle in the garden started with the Nitrogen in the atmosphere, which was taken in by the moss and plants to make amino acids and build proteins. The nitrogen is then transferred by the consumers (earthworms/snails) when they consume the nitrogen-rich plants and soil. Through decomposition and excretion, the nitrogen was then absorbed by the water that was held below the soil in the layer of gravel. Through nitrogen fixation, the nitrogen gas is converted to ammonia along with other bacteria in our soil. The soil bacteria could convert the nitrates into nitrogen gas through denitrification.
Our terrarium had many limiting factors that affected it throughout the growth of the terrarium. The abiotic factors were the amount of sunlight that directed hit the terrarium, the quality of the soil, the water collected at the bottom of the container to keep the organisms moist, the pebbles/gravel sitting atop near the plants, the rotting log on which moss grew, and the temperature. The sunlight was able to positively affect the ecosystem, since the location near the window where it was kept stayed warmer than other areas and allowed for better nutrition and growth of the moss and other plants. The water and soil also helped the terrarium, as the water we added to the soil kept the earthworms' food oxygen-full and nutritious. The water that moistened the soil also affected the mosses in a good way, as it kept them from drying out. The temperature of the classroom in which they were kept was a negative effect, as it got significantly colder at night, and the plants we had were meant to be kept at room temperature. Some of the biotic factors in the terrarium were the earthworms, the moss on the rotting log, and the plants growing from the potting soil. The moss was food for the earthworms, just like the soil. The earthworms regulated the soil, just like the snails. The plants provided food and a part of the creatures' habitats.
In the terrarium, the water cycle played a huge part. When we watered the plants and soil, it was taken up through the roots of the moss and the plants. Some of the water also turned into ground water and seeped through to the gravel at the bottom of the container. The water taken by the plants and the rotting log allowed for greater growth. From the sunlight, water was evaporated into the air again. The carbon cycle in the terrarium started with the CO2 in the classroom, and through photosynthesis was absorbed by the plants and moss. The plants then gave off oxygen for the earthworms to consume. When some of the earthworms died, their decomposition gave more CO2 to the soil. The nitrogen cycle in the garden started with the Nitrogen in the atmosphere, which was taken in by the moss and plants to make amino acids and build proteins. The nitrogen is then transferred by the consumers (earthworms/snails) when they consume the nitrogen-rich plants and soil. Through decomposition and excretion, the nitrogen was then absorbed by the water that was held below the soil in the layer of gravel. Through nitrogen fixation, the nitrogen gas is converted to ammonia along with other bacteria in our soil. The soil bacteria could convert the nitrates into nitrogen gas through denitrification.