Thursday, October 29, 2015

Observation 10/29

10/29/15
Change: 

  • Wondering: There is a significant increase in condensation. However, still no plant growth. Did we add too much water in which caused our seeds to rot? 
  • Research: Growing plants from seeds require a specific balance of moisture and warmth. Dry and cold conditions cause germination failure. Seed coats must absorb surrounding moisture to stimulate the sprout's growth. However, overly wet growing medium can result in rotted seeds. Moisten the seed flat with warm water sprinkled on the growing medium before you plan the seeds.
  • Applications: 
    • Next week, we will check for evidence of mold. 
    • Wetting the seed prior to planting our seeds may have changed our plant growth.


Observations:
  • Water Clarity – still clear (very similar from last week), but with some microscopic material floating around
  • Daphnia – still show no movement (concluded that they are all dead)
  •  Snails – Abandoned shell (Albert) is in the same spot, one of the bigger snails is in sight (came out of the gravel) but still no movement. Third snail cannot be found.
  • Evaporation and condensation in both levels (condensation is heavier in the bottom tier)
  •  Soil is still now moist
  • Zero plant growth
  • Cotton strings are moist in aquatic level, and cannot be seen in terrarium level. The part of one string in the aquatic level is rotting.
  •  Water level slightly increased
    • 9.5 cm
  • Gravel has not changed.



Condensation levels show a significant increase.
However, there is still no plant growth.

Interestingly, the water levels is not significantly higher
even though water was added. Therefore, we infer that
the water in upper levels evaporated more than seeping 
into the aquatic level. 

Observation 10/22

10/22/15
Change: 
  • Added 10 mL of water
    • Observation: The water 'ran' off the surface of soil. With research, our group discovered that, this was because of the high surface tension of water. Water in soils forms microscopic channel around/between the soil particles. The initial formation of these microscopic channels in dry soil must overcome the surface tension forces. Once the initial formation occurs, (wet soil) it is relatively easier to expand the channels to accommodate more water. 
      • Connection: A real life example of this is the flooding that occurred in Austin this past Memorial Day. We had experienced very little rain previously; therefore, when it started raining a lot, the soil was not able to absorb the water thus resulting in a flood.
  • New Wondering: Will the added water make a difference (possible plant growth) or will it just flood our aquatic level? 
Observations:

  • Water Clarity - clearer than last week, but with some microscopic material floating around
  • Daphnia – Show no movement (possibly all dead)
  • Snails – Abandoned shell (Albert) is in the same spot and the snails are not showing active movement, unable to get found. 
  • Evaporation and condensation in both levels (condensation is heavier in the bottom tier)
  • Soil is still very dry
  • Zero plant growth
  • Elodea: New stems have grown (color is more green, seem healthy)
  • Cotton strings are moist in aquatic level, but appear dry in terrarium level. The part of one string in the aquatic level is rotting.
  • Water level slightly increased
    •  9.3 cm
  •  Gravel appears the same
The photo above way taken before we added 10 mL of
water. We observed that the water level has not changed 
drastically (decreased very slightly) from when we started. 
We infer that the water has evaporated (condensation present); 
however, the water string does not seem to be 
transferring the water to the soil. 

The photo above was taken before the 10 mL of water
was added. The soil appear to be very dry. When we added
water, we noticed that the water did not immediately
 absorb the water. The condensation shown in the bottle lets us
know that there is some water in the upper parts. We wonder if the
condensation is from the initial addition of water.


Thursday, October 15, 2015

Observations 10/15


10/15/15
Observations:
  • Water Clarity - mostly clear, but with some microscopic material floating around
  • Daphnia – increased in size
  • Snails – increased in size, one abandoned its shell (Albert), showing active movement
  • Evaporation and condensation in both levels
  • Soil is dry
  • Zero plant growth
  • Cotton strings are moist in aquatic level, but appear dry in terrarium level
  • Water level unchanged
    •  9 cm
  •  Gravel appears the same 
        New Wonderings:
  • Would it be beneficial to open up the terrarium and add some water to give our plants a chance to grow?

We observed the water clarity become more clouded and the condensation levels increase greatly, as shown above. However, there is still no change in the water level.

We observed a slight increase in condensation levels in the terrestrial tier, however the soil still appears extremely dry and there appears to be no signs of plant growth.

Observations 10/8


10/8/15
Observations:
  • Water Clarity – mostly clear, but with some microscopic material floating around
  • Daphnia – increased in size
  • Snails – increased in size, one abandoned its shell (Albert), showing active movement
  • Evaporation and condensation in both levels
  • Soil is dry
  • Zero plant growth
  • Cotton strings are moist in aquatic level, but appear dry in terrarium level
  • Water level unchanged
    •  9 cm
  •  Gravel appears the same 

      New Wondering:
  • How is there enough water to create condensation in the top tier but leave the soil extremely dry?


We observed that the water clarity was relatively unchanged, as well as the water level.  We inferred that a small amount of the water evaporated, causing the condensation shown above.
Although there was a small amount of condensation present in the terrestrial tier, the soil appeared extremely dry. We did not observe any noticeable plant growth.





How We Started

Week #1: How we started

"Building an Ecosystem in a Bottle"

  • Initial Questions: Will our flowers really grow? Would we be able to eat the green beans? 
  • Materials used: 
    • Bean seed (1 green bean seed), Zinnias (3 seeds) 
    • Organic soil: 4 cups moistened 
    • Daphnia (approximately 6) 
    • Elodea (1)
    • Spring water (626 mL) 
    • 2 two-liter bottle 
    • Clear Packing Tape 
    • Gravel (1 dixie cup)
    • Cotton string (3 strings-1 ft)
    • Snail (3:big, 1:small)
  • Goal: Building a sustainable ecosystem in a bottle
  • Procedure: 
    • Cut the already washed bottles (cuts shown in observation #1)
    • Add 1 Dixie cup of gravel to the bottom 
    • Add 626 mL of spring water
    • Measure one elodea plant (18 cm) 
    • Place snails in water (3 big/1 small)
    • Use hammer and nail to puncture holes in the cap
    • Put the string (3 strings-1 ft each) through the hole-leave half for the water and half for the top of the terrarium
    • Make sure the lid of the terrestrial section does not touch water in the aquatic section
    • Fill the inverted bottle with potting soil (4 cups moistened)
    • Plant 1 green bean seed, 3 zinnias seeds 
    • Attach the bottom of the second bottom and then seal them together using tape