Ecology Unit

STANDARDS / OBJECTIVES
During this project you are responsible for learning the following objectives:
recognize that plants use energy from the sun to make sugar (glucose) by the process of photosynthesis.
describe how all animals get energy by consuming other organisms and using the materials to grow and function.
recognize that food provides the energy for the work that cells do.
describe specific relationships between organisms and determine whether the relationships are competitive or mutually beneficial
(predator/prey, consumer/producer, parasite/host).
describe how changes caused by organisms in their habitat can be beneficial or detrimental to themselves or their environment.
describe how certain biotic and abiotic factors can limit the number of organisms an ecosystem can support (predators, amount of
light and water, temperature, soil composition, etc).

BIG IDEA
Ecosystems are made up of interactions of organisms with their living and nonliving environment.

ESSENTIAL QUESTION
How are ecosystems balanced?

You are going to build a model ecosystem (in a 2L bottle) to investigate the interactions of organisms with their living and nonliving
environment. You will design an ecosystem that includes biotic and abiotic factors. Your ecosystem needs to be balanced for survival. You
must be researching and investigating the objectives above during the design, construction and maintenance of your ecosystem.

DESIGN
What are some problems you are trying to investigate? What are some questions you are trying to answer?
Thereisnoairholes,sotheanimalswillhavetosupplementfromthegrass.However,thegrasswillneedwater,whichisanotherthingthatmaydryupafterthelimitof1
month.
Foodmaybelimited,andwedonotknowwhatkindoffoodthesnailseat,oriftheyeatgrassseed.
The2literwaterbottlemaynotbebigenoughfortheamountofanimals,becauseanimalsneedspace,andmaybetheanimalswontinteractwell,likehaveadetrimental
relationships.
Ifoneoftheanimalsdie,maybeitwontdecompose,andthegasesmaykillthelivinganimals,causingachainreactionofdeath.
Thewaterbottleisalsoairandwatertight.Theonlythatgoesintothebottleissunlight.Thatmeansthatwehavetohaveenoughwatersothatthegrassseedcangrowwith
sunlightandwater.

List of materials that you will use in your design.

Final List follows this...
Grass seed:1 tablespoon
Dirt:5 cups
Land Snails:1
Pill Bugs:2
Earthworms:1
Sticks/Leaves/etc:3
Rocks:2
Water:2 cups
2L plastic bottle:1 (Gains Bottle)

Brainstorm potential designs. Describe multiple designs that you could easily do to investigate the essential
question. Choose your best design to be your investigation.
Design1(Nathan):
Sidewaysbottle.Thecutforputtingthingsinwillbeclosedoffbythecaparea.Grassseeds(2),Dirt(5cups),LandSnails(2),PhilBugs(1),Earthworms(1),Sticks/Leaves/Etc.
(1),Rocks(3),Water(1cup),2LPlasticBottle(1).

Design2(Gain):
Verticalbottle.Thecutforputtingthingsinwillbeclosedoffbythebuttonarea.Grassseeds(3),Dirt(5cups),LandSnails(1),PillBugs(2),Earthworms(1),Sticks/Leaves/Etc.
(2),Rocks(2),Water(2cups)2LPlasticBottle(1).

Design3(TeamFinal):
Verticalbottle.Thecutforputtingthingsinwillbeclosedoffbythecaparea.Grassseeds(1tblspoons),Dirt(5cups),LandSnails(1),RollyPolly(2),Earthworms(1),
Sticks/Leaves/Etc.(3),Rocks(1),Water(2cups),2LPlasticBottleGainsBottle(1).

Identify the independent and dependent variables. Which variables can be controlled? How will you control
them? Which will be measured and how will you measure them?

Theindependentvariableswillbethewater,soil,rocks,grass,andsticksandleavesetc.Allthedependantvariableswillbetheinsects.Thevariableswecontrolwillbethe
amountofwater,grass,sticksandleaves,andinsects.Wecancontroltheamountofinsectsandrocksandetc.becausewecandecidewhichinsectswewant,oratleastthe
amountofinsects.Wecanalsodothiswiththeothervariables.

Table
DependentVariables(Measure)

IndependentVariables(Controlled)

Grass

Height(usearuler)

Color(observationwitheyes)

Amountofwater
Amountofsoil
Amountofsunlight
Sizeofbottle

Snail

Sizeofbottle
Amountofgrassseedavailable(food)
Interactionwithotherinsects

Thickness

PillBugs

Size(ruler)

Color(observationwitheyes)

Amount(reproduction)

Interactionwithotherinsects(smallerthanalltheothers,soitcanbealiveordie
situation)

Worms

Size(rulerormeasuretapedependingonsize)

Color

Dirt(becausethewormswillspendmostofitstimeinthedirt)
Water(ifthereisalackof,ormorethanenoughwater,itmaydrownanddie)

What will the finished design look like? Exactly how much of each material/organism will you use? Insert a
drawing of your design.
Design(EcologyDocument)
DrawingBy:Nathaniel

Ourfinisheddesignisour3rddesign.Verticalbottle.Thecutforputtingthingsinwillbeclosedoffbythecaparea.Grassseeds(1tblspoons),Dirt(3cups),LandSnails(1),
RollyPolly,(2),Earthworms(1),Sticks/Leaves/Etc.(3),Rocks(2),Water(2cups),2LPlasticBottleGainsBottle(1).

Build your design. Document the steps taken to build it, including pictures. Include a final picture once it is
ready for testing.
Beforeweevenhadthebottle,westartedtoplotthedesign.Intheend,wedecidedondesign3.Wethenplantedsomegrassseeds(exactly1tblspoon)andwateredit.After
aweek,wesawtheprogressofthegrassseed.Thefirstpictureshowedhowmuchthegrassseedgrew(Thefirstpicturedoesnthaveanyliveanimals).Thesecondpicture
wastakenafterweairsealedtheopenings,andinsertedourinsects.Again,wehave2pillbugs,1snail,and1worm.

Picture#1and#2

DATA
Collect qualitative (observations) and quantitative (numbers and measurements) data. Insert a table below to
organize your work.
Observations

Quantitative

Day 1 Soil is really wet. (Kind of a flood). The snail doesnt seem to make much
movement, sleeping quite a lot. We cant see the pill bugs. They seem to
be hiding from the snail. The grass seed doesn't seem like it is lessening,
so maybe the insects arent very hungry, or is just not eating. The
earthworm seems to be asleep or dead. After observing the worm, we
noticed that it wasnt moving, and it looked like the head was stuck
against the bottle. The grass seems very green healthy. The snail is 2 cm
thick. It is 3 cm long. The pill bugs are 1 cm long. They look a healthy
brown, though they look a little darker than before. We cant measure the
worm. Its stuck in the grass and we cant see its length. It looks the
same, or at least what we can see.

Day 1 -

Day 2 The soil is still moist, which can be good or bad. It seems like the insects
are happy though, as our snail moved. Hes now hiding, or sleeping,
under a piece of leaves. We spotted our worm again, except now its head
isnt stuck in the grass. He has been moving around a lot because we can
see the distribution in the grass. (Most of it is put into groups.)He also is
sticking out of the soil, which can mean that he has been burrowing into
the soil. We spotted one of the pill bugs. He is snug against the rock. The
grass doesnt seem to be growing tremendously, though they are growing
very slowly.

Day 1 -

Day 3 The grass remains very wet, and the grass seems to be increasing a little.
The snail has moved again, but now it seems to be hibernating. It isnt
moving as much, as we cant see as many slime trails. The snails body is
also tucked into its shell. Our pill bugs are still quite energetic, and are
moving around a lot more than the snail. The worm is no where to be
seen, so we think that it is getting ready for hibernation.

Day 3 -

Number of insects: 1 snail, 0 worms, 2 pill bugs

Length of grass: 11 cm
Number of rocks: 1x

Sticks:1x

Leaves: 1x

Water: Kind of drowned

Number of insects: 1 snail, 1 worm, 2 pill bugs

Length of grass: 12 cm
Number of rocks: 1x

Sticks: 1x

Leaves: 1x

Water: Moist

Number of insects: 1 hibernating snail, 1 hibernating worm, and 2

energetic pill bugs
Length of grass: 12.7 cm
Number of rocks: 1

Sticks: 1

Leaves: 1

Day 4 The soil is STILL moist! By now, me and Gain believe that we kind of
made a new swamp. Swamp Ecosystem. The good thing about the water
is that we can see the obvious condensation in the bottle. The bad thing
about the wet soil is that snails usually hibernate in the soil, which means
that the snail we have may be drowning or the soil too wet for a good
ecosystem.

Day 4 -

Day 9 The soil is STILL moist. We found our pill bugs, they are climbing the
tallest grass in the bottle. Our snail moved a lot! We can see slime trails
everywhere. He was moving a lot. We still cant find our worm. I assume
that the worm might be dead because it was stuck on leaves for 1 week
and now the soil is really wet. Its kind of flooding and I think that it might
drowned under the soli. I think that our pill bugs are stuck in the grass
when its climbing. Its stuck between the grass and the bottle.

Day 9 -

Day 10 Observing our ecosystem bottle today, we noticed that the pill bug that
was stuck in the grass is still stuck. It looks like it wants to free itself, but
it looks quite stuck. If we open up the bottle, we will have to free it. We
noticed that our snail has also moved positions, so that means that it may
not be hibernating after all. Our worm is nowhere to be seen, so we
believe that at least the worm is hibernating. The soil is STILL wet, but
now the soil is at least not flooding. We may have to rearrange the
direction of the grass, as the weight of the snail and the rocks have
parted the grass. We also noticed that in some areas of the soil, it is a
lighter brown, which means that the worm MAY have visited the areas.

Day 10 -

Day 15 Today we observed our bottle again. We noticed that the pill bug that was
stuck is still stuck against the grass, and its legs and antennae arent
moving, which makes us believe that it may have died. The snail has been
busy, leaving big blobs of snail slime. Our worm is still nowhere to be
seen, so that means that it is definitely hibernating. Our grass is still
growing, thanks to the outrageous amount of water that is still soaked in
the soil.

Day 15 -

Day 17 Today is our last day of data collection. The snails is hibernating, as
shown by its hiding inside of its shell. The soil is still flooded, and we
have learned to never put as much water into soil again, as there is no
oxygen to use the water. The grass seems to have stopped growing, and
its no surprise, as it is after one whole month. The pill bug that was stuck
is now officially dead. R.I.P Pill Bug #2.

Day 17 Number of insects: 1 snail, 1 worm, 1 hiding pill bug, and 1 dead pill bug

Number of insects: 1 energetic snail, 1 worm, and 2 very tired pill bugs
Length of grass: 12.78 cm
Number of rocks: 1

Sticks: 1

Leaves: 1

Number of insects: 1 energetic snail, 1 (or 0) worm, and 2 energetic pill

bugs
Length of grass: 12.9 cm
Number of rocks: 1

Sticks: 1

Leaves: 1

Number of insects: 1 snail, 1 worm, 1 stuck pill bug, and 1 hiding pill bug
Length of grass: 13.1 cm
Number of rocks: 1

Sticks: 1

Leaves:1

Number of insects: 1 snail, 1 worm, 1 stuck pill bug, and 1 pill bug
Length of grass: 13.4 cm
Number of rocks: 1

Sticks: 1

Leaves: 1

Length of grass: 13.7 cm

Number of rocks: 1

Sticks: 1

Leaves: 1

Our first 2 charts are actually for just one standard, standard #1, Relationships in our ecosystem bottle. Our first chart is about the amount of oxygen. It
shows the levels of oxygen steadily going down, while the second chart, about carbon dioxide, shows the amount of carbon dioxide going steadily up,
which shows contrast against the oxygen levels, so it shows how the producers are overwhelming the producers (grass) in the ecosystem. In this
particular relationship, we can see that there was either too many consumers, or the grass couldnt produce enough oxygen for the amount of
consumers.

Our second sheet is for standard #4,aboutcellularrespiration.Thischartshowshowtheprocessofphotosynthesiscanchangeanecosystem.Youfirstlookatthechart,

andyouthink,Howcanthisshowphotosynthesis?.Todescribeit,whenaplantusesphotosynthesisiswhenitproducestheglucose.Whenaconsumer(possiblyus),eats
theplant,itconsumestheglucoseaswell.Butifnobodyeatstheplant,thanitturnsitintocellulose,whichgoestotheplantsstem.Itmakesitharder,sothattheplantcantbe
bentbackdowntoitsoriginalheight.Thecellulosehardensthestemevenmore,andwhentheprocessofphotosynthesishappens,itturnsthestemharder,sothatitcan
grow.


Forour3rdchart,thisshowshowphotosynthesiscanchangeanenvironment.Thegrassdeclinessteadily,andbyday17,thereisalmostnograss.Forthefirstcoupleofdays
(days14)theorganismsdidntseemtowanttoeatthegrass.Butafterday5,theorganismsinsidethebottleseemedtoneedtheenergythatwasinsidethegrass,sothey
startedtoeat.Theonlybadthingaboutthatwasthatthegrasscouldntgrowagain,thereforetheamountofproducersweredownverylow,andthegrassproducedoxygen,
whichwasneededtokeeptheanimalsalive.Basically,theorganismsinsidewerekillingthemselvesslowlybyconsumingthegrass.

Our4thchartshowsstandard#6.Youcanseetheconditionofthepillbugeachday,andhowfoodcouldhaveaffecteditsenergy.Itsmainsourceoffoodwassnaildroppings,
andyoucanseeitsconditionchange.Whenthesnailwasntactive,neitherwasthepillbugbecauseitcouldntobtaintheenergyitneededfromthesnail.Whenthesnailwas
activeandleavingdroppings,thepillbuggotmoreenergyandwasveryactive.Asyoucansee,whentheproducerisntproducing,theconsumerisntconsuming.Thatmeans
thattheconsumersenergyreliescompletelyontheproducersactiveness.

Forour5thchart,thischartshowshowbioticorganismscanchangeanecosystem.Asyoucansee,grasstookupalmost94%ofthespaceinthebottle,whiletheworms,
snails,andbugsonlytookupabout6%.Thisalsoshowshowthat6%couldlowertheoxygeninsideourbottletoadangerouslylowamount.Despitethegrassdominatingthe
size,thatamountofgrasscouldntcompensateforthe6%ofanimals.Imagineifourecosystemwasbalanced5050forgrassandanimals.Withouttheamountofgrass,surely
alloftheanimalswilldie.


Forour6thchart,thischartshowshowABIOTICfactorscanchangeanecosystem.Again,onefactordominatedthespaceandweight.Thesoil.Therewasstilladecent
amountofwaterintheecosystemaswell,takingupaboutofthebottle.However,therockscouldonlytakeupabout8%ofthebottle,soitwastinycomparedtotheother2
factorsintheecosystem.Thedirtwasabigfactorinourecosystembecauseofitspurposes.Soildoesntdoanythingbyitself,butitcangrowgrass,whichisaHUGEpartof
anyecosystem.Thewaterhadasmallerparttoplay.Eventhoughwaterpowerstheprocessofphotosynthesis,theanimalsinsidedidntreallydrinkthewater.Itfertilizedthe
soil,buttoapointwherethesoilwasabsolutelyflooded.Thelargerockswerentveryhelpfulfortheecosystem,andittookupstillasubstantialamountofspace(8%).The
rockscouldntproduceanyoxygen,butitalsodidntproducecarbondioxide,soitwasauselessfactorinourecosystembottle.

CONCLUSION
What have you learned regarding the questions you started with (in the design section). Give examples from
your data that help explain your conclusion.
What relationships were in your ecosystem?
There was a couple. One of the most important would be a producer and consumer relationship, with grass as the producer and the animals as the
consumers. As you can see in one of our charts, the sheer amount of animals and amount of carbon dioxide from them out powered the strength of the
grass producing oxygen.
How did each organism change the environment of your ecosystem?
The animals changed the ecosystem because of their consumption of the grass and as it produces carbon dioxide. The grass was the main producer of
oxygen and was also the main amount of food for the organisms as it provided energy.
What limited (biotic or abiotic) each organisms population of your ecosystem?
One of the limitations would obviously be the lack of oxygen and the amount of carbon dioxide. For the abiotic factors, space could limit its amount, and
also because they cant reproduce, the amount we put in the bottle would stay the same until the end.
How did photosynthesis affect your ecosystem?
Photosynthesis affected our ecosystem by giving us energy from eating it and oxygen. Without photosynthesis, we wont have enough oxygen to survive
on earth. We will all die without photosynthesis, including the animals inside our ecosystem. Without photosynthesis, plants wont have food and they will
also not be able to photosynthesize.
How did cellular respiration affect your ecosystem?
Cellular respiration affected our ecosystem because without cellular respiration, the animals wouldnt be able to obtain energy as proficiently, and the
plants wouldnt be able to use the carbon dioxide as efficiently as well. The plants would also not be making oxygen as efficiently as well, as cellular
respiration is basically making plants and animals do there stuff well.
Why do organisms need food and how did they get in your ecosystem?
Without food, animals wont have energy to do work. Without this energy, the animals wouldnt be able to do anything, as energy is our battery. Food
also provides not just energy, but without food, the animals would die. The energy we get from eating vegetables is called ATP. ATP is basically a
rechargeable battery, it gives you energy to do everything and anything.

What about your design was really good? What about your design didnt work or needed to be improved?
What adjustments had to be made? Explain.
Our design was good because the animals had loads of space, as we only had 1 snail, 1 worm, and 2 pill bugs. We also had quite a lot of food, because
our we also had lots of grass in the bottle. One really bad thing that happened was that our soil was absolutely drenched from day 1 to day 18. Because
our soil was swimming in the Pacific Ocean of our bottle, that could have stemmed the amount of grass we could have grown.

How could your design be improved if you were going to build it again?
We would not put so much water as our soil was drowning. Without oxygen, water doesnt dissipate. We would put more animals in to make it more
balance. We would put more grass so that there would be more oxygen and food supply for the animals. That was the main problem, the lack of oxygen
and the over the top amount of carbon dioxide. Because of the amount of carbon dioxide, I believe that that was what caused our snail, Bobby, to die.
But I think that when we add the animals, the amount of carbon dioxide would raise even more. We could also use another version for the bottle, instead
of having the rocks in the middle of the grass and crushing all of the grass, we could make a more environmentally aware bottle, and we could also
maybe not use or take up most of the space in the bottle with ABIOTIC factors. We could use less abiotic factors, so that we could make more space for
the biotic factors. We would do this mainly because the grass could grow in more areas, therefore making more oxygen for the live animals. The live
animals themselves were problems however, as they were the main producers of carbon dioxide. Without them, the grass could have produced more
oxygen. But for what? Without the animals, the grass could produce oxygen, but there wouldnt be any consumers. With the animals, there would be too
much carbon dioxide, the grass wouldnt be able to match

Rubric rating submitted on: Tue Nov 04 2014 20:46:33 GMT-0500 (EST) by ryan.kuhl@seoulforeign.com

defining the problem

Your score: 3

advanced

identifies a focused problem

or question

identifies a
problem/question that is
incomplete

does not identify a

problem/question

selecting the variables

Your score: 3

advanced

identifies the relevant

variables

identifies only some

variables or variables that
are irrelevant

does not identify any

relevant variables

controlling variables
Your score: 3

advanced

designs a method which will

control the variables

designs a method that

attempts to control the
variables

designs a method that does

not control the variables

developing a method for

collection of data
Your score: 3

advanced

designs a method that

allows for the collection of
relevant and sufficient data

designs a method that

allows for the collection of
insufficient relevant data

designs a method that does

not allow for any relevant
data to be collected

recording raw data

Your score: 3

advanced

records appropriate
quantitative and qualitative
raw data including units

records appropriate
quanitative and qualitative
raw data but with some
mistakes

does not record any

appropriate quantitative raw
data or raw data is unclear

processing raw data

Your score: 1

advanced

processes the quantitative

raw data correctly

processes quantitative raw

data, but with some
mistakes

no processing of quantitative
raw data or major mistakes
are made in processing

presenting processed data

Your score: 4

advanced

presents processed data

appropriately

presents processed data

appropriately but with some
mistakes

presents processed data

inappropriately or
presentation is unclear

conclusion
Your score: 3

advanced

states a conclusion with

justification based on a
reasonable interpretation of
the data

states a conclusion based on

a reasonable interpretation
of the data

states no conclusion or the

conclusion is based on an
unreasonable interpretation
of the data

evaluating procedures
Your score: 2

advanced

identifies the weaknesses

and limitations

identifies some weaknesses

and limitations but the
evaluation is weak

identifies irrelevant
weaknesses and limiations

improving the investigation

Your score: 3

advanced

suggests realistic
improvements in respect of
identified weaknesses and
limitations

suggestions only superficial

and irrelevant improvements

suggests unrealistic
improvements

following instructions
Your score: 3

advanced

follows instructions
accurately and
independently and is able to
solve problems as they arise

follows instructions but

requires assistance

rarely follows instructions

and/or requires constant
supervision

carrying out techniques

Your score: 3

advanced

competent and methodical

in the use of a range of
techniques and equipment

usually competent and

methodical in the use of a
range of techniques and
equipment

rarely competent and

methodical in the use of a
range of techniques and
equipment

working safely
Your score: 3

advanced

pays attention to safety

issues

usually pays attention to

safety issues

rarely pays attention to

safety issues

Comments: