Ullmann 1

Name _______________________________________________________ Per _____ Date _______________

Bottle Biology

Problem: Can an enclosed, self-sustaining ecosystem using two clear, two-liter plastic soda bottles

be built?

Ecosystem: You will need to work with your team to design a self-sustaining habitat. You will

create three chambers: a terrestrial (land) chamber, decomposition chamber, and an aquatic (water) chamber. As you plan, consider

Which producers (plants which make their own food) you need to provide food for the consumers (animals which eat other organisms).

Consider the temperature and sunlight requirements of the living things in your eco column. Think about how to create a system which encourages circulation of water in the water cycle.

Terrestrial Chamber: Soil:

• You will probably want a mixture of planter mix and soil. For the soil, consider what types you have available between your group members.

o Do you want dry and rocky? o Sandy? o Soil that has had plants growing in it recently?

Seeds/plants: • Since you have a small growing space, think small in terms of your plants. Choose

plants that can grow in small spaces and will have enough room to grow in the chamber. You may also choose plants that have already sprouted and have roots. The choice is yours. What advantage does each type of plant have?

Decomposition Chamber Organic Matter:

• Some mix of leaves, grass, planter mix and easily decomposed food such as fruit (no citrus, no peels) should constitute the material in this chamber.

• Consider what fraction you think each of these components should be. Insects:

• You should be able to support a number of insects in your decomposition chamber. Insects like Drosophila (fruit flies) can fly back and forth between the terrestrial and decomposition chambers and help degrade the food.

• What other insects can you think of to include? • Do you want to put them in the terrestrial or

decomposition chamber? Aquatic Chamber: Water:

• Not all water is the same. o Do you want to include fresh tap water? o Old tap water? o Distilled water? o Pond water? o What is your reasoning?

Solid material:

Ullmann 2

Choose gravel or sand or a mix to go in the bottom of your aquatic chamber Organisms:

• Fish, snails, and Elodea (water plants) can go in your aquatic chamber. • Be especially careful to limit the number of larger organisms in this chamber as you

will NOT open it to add food. • Add only the number of consumers you think this chamber can support. Ideas are

snails, shrimp, fish (if planned wisely)

Designing Your Biome

Here is a basic design. You will need to draw your team’s

design. Include labels for all components and specific info

about any special additions to your plan.

Include a materials list. Be very specific about all materials

you will need, including tools.

Create a food web which shows what eats what in the

system. Be sure to label each as a consumer (primary

or secondary), producer, or decomposer. (page 8)

List all the abiotic factors and biotic factors in your planned

ecosystem.

Ullmann 3

Design hint:

To connect the land and aquatic sections, run a cotton string through the cap. The string connects the

aquatic and terrestrial sections of the ecosystem by hanging into the water.

Make sure the lid of the decomposition section does not touch the water in the aquatic section. Only

the string in between connects the two sections.

You have two choices- either connect the string from the aquatic section to terrestrial section OR from

aquatic section to decomposition chamber.

Materials Needed: Figure out with your team (no more than 4) what materials you will need

Materials Mr. Ullmann will have available: sand, gravel, seeds (grass, poppy, flowers), potting soil.

All other materials you must bring!

Pre-lab Biome Plan

Guiding Question: what are you interested in learning in this experiment? What is the goal

of this experiment for you and your team? Examples: How does salt affect the growth of plants? How does

adding fertilizer to the soil affect algal growth in the water chamber? What type of soil best purifies water? Think

of this section as the purpose. Write your purpose/guiding question(s) below.

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For each chamber, label the biotic and abiotic factors. For biotic factors, include its need and contributions to the food web and nutrient cycles. In other words, why is this component necessary for the bottle biome? Ex: Plant - Needs carbon dioxide, water, soil, nutrients and sunlight

- Releases oxygen and provides energy to herbivores

Terra Chamber

Soil (include amount & types) Biotic Factors (plants, living things)

Aquatic Chamber

Water (include amount & type)

Solid material (gravel/sand/mix) Organisms (plants, consumers)

Ullmann 5

Decomposition Chamber

Organic Matter (leaves, planter mix, fruit – consider how much and proportions) Insects Now that you have written down what is going in each section of the biome write a detailed procedure below on how you will construct the biome and what exactly is going in each section of the biome. Remember that your procedure should be detailed enough that someone else could read it and mimic your experiment. See page 7 for sample procedure. Once pages 3-4 are complete, the procedure is written, and basic food web has been drawn (either on separate page or page 9) you may begin construction of your biome. EVERYONE IN YOUR GROUP MUST HAVE THIS DONE BEFORE YOU CAN BEGIN. ONCE EVERYONE IN YOU’RE YOUR GROUP IS DONE I WILL STAMP HERE -----------

Stamp Here

Ullmann 6

Directions

The Bottle

Not all bottles are exactly the same. Some have thinner, gently tapering bodies, while others are wider with rounder

shoulders. Bottles that appear the same may vary by a millimeter or two in diameter and this can make a difference.

These differences will affect how your bottle constructions fit together. When you are collecting bottles to construct the

columns, look for bottles with similar shapes and sizes. One way to guarantee this is to use bottles of the same brand of

beverage. I would highly recommend using the same brand of beverage to avoid problems in bottle size.

Removing labels: Once you have collected bottles, you will need to remove the labels. Most labels are attached by a heat-

sensitive glue. Resist ripping off the labels, or you may end up with many small pieces of label stuck to the bottle.

An inexpensive hair dryer will remove the label and base from your bottle in a jiffy. Set the hair dryer on low. Hold your

bottle about 10 cm away from a blowing nozzle, and move it rapidly up and down so that the air warms the seam of the

label. Gently pull on an edge of the label until you feel the glue begin to give. This takes about 4 seconds.

Bottles are made from PETE (polyethylene teraphthalate). This is a generally inert plastic, but it will warp easily if

overheated, so keep the bottle moving. Leave the bottle cap on or fill the bottle with water first to prevent warping.

A quieter way to remove the label and base from your bottle is to fill it about 1/4 full with very warm water (49 - 65

degrees C or 120 - 150 degrees F; hotter than this may warp your bottle). Cap the bottle in order to retain pressure inside

so the bottle doesn't crumple, and tip it on its side to warm the glued seam. After a few seconds tug on a label corner.

Glue is often left on the bottle after the label is removed. If this offends your aesthetic sensibilities, rub a small amount of

peanut butter onto the glue. As you rub, the oil in the peanut butter causes the glue to ball up so it can be pulled off (no

kidding, crunchy works best). If you are really into the clean bottle look, wash your bottles with soap and warm water and

dry them – they'll shine!

Hint: Sprite bottles have a very easy label to remove!

YOUR BOTTLE MUST HAVE LABEL FULLY REMOVED BEFORE BEGINNING CONSTRUCTION

Here are some terms used to help when describing where to cut.

BUILDING-Materials (I will provide sand, gravel, seeds (grass, poppy, flowers), potting soil and some bottles. You are

encouraged to bring your own supplies if you want something in particular

Three 2-liter soda bottle

One bottle cap

Hole punch (nail will work)

Scissors

Decomposition material

Wicking material-fabric interfacing or cotton string

Water, soil and plants

Live animals (snails/fish)

Optional: Silicone sealant to waterproof joints

Ullmann 7

SAMPLE PROCEDURE –you can take parts of this procedure and add to your

own procedure! Your procedure should not be identical to this procedure.

Step 1 – Remove label from the 2-liter bottle. On bottle #1, cut 2 cm below shoulder to produce component "A," a

shallow funnel top and "C" a deep reservoir. Save A.

Step 3 – Cut Bottle #2, 1 cm below hip to produce component "B" a deep funnel unit with hip taper.

Repeat this step with bottle #3 except cut

Step 2 – Poke or drill a 1 cm hole in bottle cap of bottle D and bottle B.

Step 4 – Fill reservoir with water in C and other aquatic biotic/abiotic factors. Set up decomposition chamber in

bottle B. Add soil and plants to top chamber in bottle B. To be effective, the wick should run up into soil, not be

plastered along a side of the bottle. For better drainage, place a layer of gravel, sand or vermiculite in the bottom of

the soil unit. You may thread wick completely to bottle D if you desire. Again, this is just a guide! If you find

something works modify it and specify in your precedure!

#3 D

3

.

.

.

D

Ullmann 8

Hints/Suggestions when constructing your bottle biome:

Plants: Elodea, hydrilla,

Duckweed on surface of water

Use a decent amount of plants in your system (more photosynthesis)

Other plants http://homeaquaria.com/9-best-freshwater-aquarium-plants-for-beginners/

Fish: Guppy or betta. Goldfish are a bit trickier to keep alive.

DO NOT USE MORE THAN 2 Guppies or Goldfish in the bottle.

IF YOU ARE USING BETTA FISH ONLY USE ONE.

Snails: http://www.thenemosomen.com/page6.shtml

Fill bottom of bottle with sand or pebbles, about two inches deep. Wash sand/pebbles thoroughly before

adding to bottle.

Firmly plant Elodeo, Hydrilla, or any other plant other than Duckweed in sand/pebbles.

Research what the fish eat- put the appropriate amount of food in tank for fish!

Your local fish store can help you with any questions or feel free to ask me! But before you ask me make

sure you research online! Plenty of great information is available online.

Again these are guides to help during construction and to get you started- if you want to try something else go for

you it!

Helpful video to help with construction

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=reIphxVLBz4

Video is in another language but shows a great example of how to construct bottle biome. (this video is missing the

decomposition chamber however)

http://www.bottlebiology.org/

This website is especially helpful! Tons of great information.

Ullmann 9

Food web(you may use another page

if more room is needed)

Abiotic Factors Biotic Factors

Day 1 Take a picture of your ENTIRE biome bottle after it is constructed. Print or draw a detailed drawing

below. Label your components in the drawing and list in the “materials list” box.

Include labels for all components and specific info about any special additions to your plan.

Materials List

Ullmann 10

Plants: List seed types and number

planted. Measure the height of plants.

Abiotic Factors Biotic Factors

Terra Chamber

Take a picture of terra chamber. Draw a detailed drawing or print the picture of your terra chamber. Label ALL biotic and abiotic factors.

Initial Plant data: Draw/picture of each plant with starting measurement (cm). List seed types and number planted.

Soil: Record Initial Amount of soil (cups) and indicate type (sandy, clay, potting)

Label consumers and number in the biome.

Soil: Record initial amount of soil (mL)

and indicate type (sandy, clay, potting)

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Plants: List height of decomposition

chamber

Abiotic Factors Biotic Factors

Decomposition Chamber

Take a picture of terra chamber. Draw a detailed drawing or print the picture of your decompostion Chamber. Label ALL biotic and abiotic factors.

List ALL the materials that you placed in the decomposition chamber. Measure the initial height of all the materials once placed in the chamber.

If you have any live creatures please label them. Describe their appearance.

Materials you placed in Decomposition

chamber

Ullmann 12

Abiotic Factors Biotic Factors

Aquatic Chamber

Draw a detailed drawing of your aquatic chamber. Label ALL biotic and abiotic factors

Initial Plant data: Draw/picture of each plant with starting measurement (cm). List types and number planted.

Water: Record Initial Amount of water (cups) and indicate type (tap, fish, bottled)

Use a permanent marker to mark the water level on the bottle.

Label consumers and number in the biome.

Water: Mark the initial amount on the

bottle. Indicate the type.

Plants: List types and number planted.

Measure the height of plants.

Ullmann 13

Documenting your ecosystem: Keep accurate records of your eco column. You must have

two observations per week. You may do more if you would like for more accurate observations. The

first 2 dates have been filled in for you. Each Tuesday and Friday we will take about 5-7 minutes to

observe the bottle biome in class.

Date/Time

Observations: Write up a detailed summary of what is happening in your bottle biome. Include specifics like the number of living things, their health and growth, quality and relative amounts of water.

Tuesday Jan 10th

Friday Jan 13th

Ullmann 14

Documenting your ecosystem: Keep accurate records of your eco column. You must have

two observations per week. You may do more if you would like for more accurate observations. Each

Tuesday and Friday we will take about 5-7 minutes to observe the bottle biome in class.

Date/Time

Observations: Write up a detailed summary of what is happening in your bottle biome. Include specifics like the number of living things, their health and growth, quality and relative amounts of water.

Ullmann 15

Documenting your ecosystem: Keep accurate records of your eco column. You must have

two observations per week. You may do more if you would like for more accurate observations. Each

Tuesday and Friday we will take about 5-7 minutes to observe the bottle biome in class.

Date/Time

Observations: Write up a detailed summary of what is happening in your bottle biome. Include specifics like the number of living things, their health and growth, quality and relative amounts of water.

Ullmann 16

Documenting your ecosystem: Keep accurate records of your eco column. You must have

two observations per week. You may do more if you would like for more accurate observations. Each

Tuesday and Friday we will take about 5-7 minutes to observe the bottle biome in class. For the last

observation open your biome and measure plant height,

Date/Time

Observations: Write up a detailed summary of what is happening in your bottle biome. Include specifics like the number of living things, their health and growth, quality and relative amounts of water.

THIS ENTIRE PACKET IS WORTH 100 POINTS.