TERRARIUM PROJECT WRITE-UP
This was the first project in our Ecology unit. Below is my write-up.
Introduction and Objective: This is the first project in our ecology unit, where we are learning about different environments and the relationship of all the organisms in that environment. We are recreating an environment in a terrarium, and watching it throughout the course of the rest of the semester.
Hypothesis: Our hypothesis is that if we water our succulents (the plants we picked for our terrarium), then they will die of being over-watered. We will try and water them minimally to make sure they don't die.
Materials: ~hexagonal tank ~sphagnum moss (dried moss)
~sand ~soil
~pebbles ~different types of succulents
~rocks ~colored pebbles, shells, toy animals, and other decorations
~activated charcoal
Procedure: This is a very simple project, but a little challenging in knowing in what order we put our "ingredients".
1.) place your tank (ours is hexagonal, but it can be any shape or size) on a flat surface. You want to make sure that when you put in your ingredients, your tank doesn't spill.
2.) put a layer of sand on the bottom. This is for decorative purposes, so you can put in as much as you want. Just make sure you have enough room for the other objects!
3.) place a layer of small pebbles on top of the sand.
4.) place a layer of rocks on top of the pebbles, and top the rocks off with another layer of small pebbles. Make sure you cant see any of the previous layers, because you don't want any water to leak through when you water your plants.
5.) place a layer of activated charcoal on top of the plants.
6.) place a layer of sphagnum moss, or dried moss, on the activated charcoal.
7.) now you can add your soil.
8.) plant your succulents! When you add your soil, make sure you don't put in too much. When you get your succulents, they are in tiny pots with soil in them. To plant your succulents, gently scoop the soil underneath, along with the plants and their roots. Then place the plants in your terrarium, and gently spread the soil out. It will take a few days for the succulents to plant their roots again.
9.) now for the fun part! You can decorate your terrarium with small layers of sand, rocks, colored pebbles, small animal toys, etc. Have fun with it, and be creative. :)
Observations:
day 1~ We just finished planting our terrarium. It looks great! We need to be careful when we water our plants because since they are succulents, they cannot be watered too much.
day 8~ It's been a week since we've taken a picture of our terrarium, but we have been watering it every other day. I'm not sure what it is doing to our plants, but we had to remove one because it hadn't planted it's roots fast enough, and died. The rest of the plants are doing well, though they might be a little under watered.
day 15~ We had to take our plants home for the Thanksgiving break, but they have been doing spectacularly. I look forward to taking our plants home and seeing how they do. My siblings love gardening, and watching them water the terrarium would be a pleasure.
day 22~ We brought our plants back, and they seem to have grown a little more. They look great!
day 28~ We just about finished out terrarium project, and the plants have not died. We will be taking them home by the end of the week.
Results: Our terrarium has done very well, but our plants haven't grown too much. But then again, our succulents were full grown. There didn't seem to be anything that affected the way that they were taken care of, or that affected their survival.
Analysis: What were the limiting factors, biotic and abiotic factors and how they affect the terrarium? The limiting factors in our terrarium were the size of the container and the amount of sunlight that the plants received. The biotic factors include the soil and the layers of the terrarium, and the water and sunlight the terrarium was exposed to. The abiotic factors include the container, and the fake snake we placed in our terrarium for decoration.
Describe the following nutrient cycles in your terrarium: water cycle, carbon cycle, nitrogen cycle. The water in our terrarium is the following: we watered our plants, the water was absorbed by the roots and the soil, the excess water evaporated into the air, or became some form of condensation in the container within the soil. The carbon cycle in our terrarium is the following: the plants absorbed the carbon dioxide, and then respired it back into the atmosphere. The nitrogen cycle in our terrarium is the following: the roots have nitrogen fixing bacteria, which fixates the nitrogen in the soil, which later goes back to the atmosphere by denitrification.
Conclusion: This was a very fun project, and it was very useful in learning about the different cycles in the environment. I think I would like to take up gardening now. ;)
This was the first project in our Ecology unit. Below is my write-up.
Introduction and Objective: This is the first project in our ecology unit, where we are learning about different environments and the relationship of all the organisms in that environment. We are recreating an environment in a terrarium, and watching it throughout the course of the rest of the semester.
Hypothesis: Our hypothesis is that if we water our succulents (the plants we picked for our terrarium), then they will die of being over-watered. We will try and water them minimally to make sure they don't die.
Materials: ~hexagonal tank ~sphagnum moss (dried moss)
~sand ~soil
~pebbles ~different types of succulents
~rocks ~colored pebbles, shells, toy animals, and other decorations
~activated charcoal
Procedure: This is a very simple project, but a little challenging in knowing in what order we put our "ingredients".
1.) place your tank (ours is hexagonal, but it can be any shape or size) on a flat surface. You want to make sure that when you put in your ingredients, your tank doesn't spill.
2.) put a layer of sand on the bottom. This is for decorative purposes, so you can put in as much as you want. Just make sure you have enough room for the other objects!
3.) place a layer of small pebbles on top of the sand.
4.) place a layer of rocks on top of the pebbles, and top the rocks off with another layer of small pebbles. Make sure you cant see any of the previous layers, because you don't want any water to leak through when you water your plants.
5.) place a layer of activated charcoal on top of the plants.
6.) place a layer of sphagnum moss, or dried moss, on the activated charcoal.
7.) now you can add your soil.
8.) plant your succulents! When you add your soil, make sure you don't put in too much. When you get your succulents, they are in tiny pots with soil in them. To plant your succulents, gently scoop the soil underneath, along with the plants and their roots. Then place the plants in your terrarium, and gently spread the soil out. It will take a few days for the succulents to plant their roots again.
9.) now for the fun part! You can decorate your terrarium with small layers of sand, rocks, colored pebbles, small animal toys, etc. Have fun with it, and be creative. :)
Observations:
day 1~ We just finished planting our terrarium. It looks great! We need to be careful when we water our plants because since they are succulents, they cannot be watered too much.
day 8~ It's been a week since we've taken a picture of our terrarium, but we have been watering it every other day. I'm not sure what it is doing to our plants, but we had to remove one because it hadn't planted it's roots fast enough, and died. The rest of the plants are doing well, though they might be a little under watered.
day 15~ We had to take our plants home for the Thanksgiving break, but they have been doing spectacularly. I look forward to taking our plants home and seeing how they do. My siblings love gardening, and watching them water the terrarium would be a pleasure.
day 22~ We brought our plants back, and they seem to have grown a little more. They look great!
day 28~ We just about finished out terrarium project, and the plants have not died. We will be taking them home by the end of the week.
Results: Our terrarium has done very well, but our plants haven't grown too much. But then again, our succulents were full grown. There didn't seem to be anything that affected the way that they were taken care of, or that affected their survival.
Analysis: What were the limiting factors, biotic and abiotic factors and how they affect the terrarium? The limiting factors in our terrarium were the size of the container and the amount of sunlight that the plants received. The biotic factors include the soil and the layers of the terrarium, and the water and sunlight the terrarium was exposed to. The abiotic factors include the container, and the fake snake we placed in our terrarium for decoration.
Describe the following nutrient cycles in your terrarium: water cycle, carbon cycle, nitrogen cycle. The water in our terrarium is the following: we watered our plants, the water was absorbed by the roots and the soil, the excess water evaporated into the air, or became some form of condensation in the container within the soil. The carbon cycle in our terrarium is the following: the plants absorbed the carbon dioxide, and then respired it back into the atmosphere. The nitrogen cycle in our terrarium is the following: the roots have nitrogen fixing bacteria, which fixates the nitrogen in the soil, which later goes back to the atmosphere by denitrification.
Conclusion: This was a very fun project, and it was very useful in learning about the different cycles in the environment. I think I would like to take up gardening now. ;)