Portfolio: City High School's Ecobottle Investigations Portfolio

Investigation

The Cockroach Group Ecobottle Investigation

cockroach3, cockroach4, cockroach1, and cockroach2

Introduction 

© 2005 cockroach3

We are the cockroach group, and project that we are presenting here is called an ecobottle investigation. In our class we are doing ecobottles to learn more about what scientists have to do in their everyday life. Also it makes us better observers and more prepared in daily life when we get older if we become scientists. What we learned from this is what I just explained. But there are more things we learned from this project, like how the terrestrial, decomposition and aquatic sections work as their own environments and how they interact together.

Procedure 

  1. First we got five bottles, and drew lines with sharpies for where we were to cut. We cut them according to size.
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    Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window

    Cockroach 2 cutting up the bottles © 2005

  2. Then, we started with the Aquatic section. We filled it with white sand, large pebbles, snails, and green plants. We drilled a hole through the cap of the decomposition to let the water drain out.
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    Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window

    Drilling holes in the caps for the Ecobottle © 2005

  3. After that, we proceeded to the decomposition section. We filled that with compost, and apple slices. Before we continued onto the terrestrial, we drilled a hole through the cap of it, to let the water through with a straw.
  4. In the terrestrial section we put soil, basil seeds, and garden beans. Later, on October 3,  we added 6 crickets at 1:20 pm.
  5. According to the research we did on crickets and what they eat, it was said that crickets paper so we added paper for the crickets to eat. 
  6. Then, at the very top, we have a top of  a bottle, with a cap with small holes in it to allow us to water  the terrestrial section.
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    Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window
     .

    Our ecobottle completed but without water © 2005

Hypotheses

We have two sets of hypotheses developed by different group members. We have grouped them according to the section of the ecobottle that they are about. See below!

Aquatic

Aquatic-Snails

Aquatic- Alceada

Week 1-Week 5: I think that the plant will be alive until the last week and then it will die.

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Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window

The Decomposition section of the ecobottle in a state of decay.
© 2005

Decomposition

Decomposition- Apples

Terrestrial

Terrestrial - Basil Seeds

Week 1-Week 5: I think that the basil seeds won't grow at all.

Terrestrial- Garden Bean Seeds

Observations                                       


Our plants that are beginning to grow.
© 2005

Date: 9/29/05
Time: 1:32pm
Overall impression is that everything looks good. There aren't any plants yet in the terrestrial. The apples have mold on them and the water is getting dirty. The terrestrial is doing fine but nothing is in there yet. Like I said the apples in the decomposition have mold. Nothing really big and exciting yet happing. In the aquatic the water is dirty and some snails seems to be dead, but not sure.

Date:9/30/05
Time:12:50pm
It seems to be the same as yesterday. Nothing happened over the night. We watered the terrestrial about a good 2 or 3 oz. Still mold on apples, maybe if the mold was spread out it would cover 1/4 of the circle. The aquatic is really dirty there are couple of snails floating in the surface. The plants seem to be a stem and the temperature of the water is 24.5 degrees Celsius.

Date: 10/3/05
Time: 1:59pm
There are little differences now in the ecobottle. In every part something happened. In the terrestrial the plants grew a little. So now you can see plants. In the decomposition, the apples have more mold and are turning brown. The mold will probably cover 1/2 of the bottle diameter now. In the aquatic the big snail (aka Slime) died and also the little ones. The water got warmer over the weekend. GOD BLESS SLIME!

Date: 10/4/05
Time: 1:59pm
Looks about the same. The plants in the terrestrial got bigger. One of the crickets dug a hole and the pieces of paper we put in there are halfway gone (we think the crickets ate some of the paper - we had read that crickets will eat paper). The apple in decomposition is smaller and more brown. The mold is going away. The water in the aquatic is still dirty and the plants that are in there look like they are dead. Water is 22 degrees Celsius.

Date:10/6/05
Time:1:45
Things are flowing smoothly and looks good. In all of the sections they look fine. Plants got taller and crickets seem to be fine. Apples are still brown and still have a little mold. There is a tiny root growing out of the lid from the terrestrial. Most of the plants are dead in the aquatic. Snails are dead and water is dirty but it hasn't got dirtier than before.

Date: 10/7/05
Time: 1:33pm
It seems to be fine. Looks the same. Plant hitting the top and only three crickets could be seen. Two scraps of paper are seen also. Apples are still brown and getting smaller. The root that was growing out of the lid stopped growing and there was mold growing out of the holes in the lid. Nothing is happening in the aquatic. Plants floating and are just stems.

Date: 10/10/05
Time: 1:42pm
Everything is the same. Bigger plants and only one cricket can be seen, don't know where the others went. Apples are the same and mold is growing out of the straw. Aquatic is the same as before; nothing new.

Date: 10/11/05 & 10/18/05
Time: 2:00pm
Same old, nothing new. Can't see the crickets, the leaves are dying, and mold is growing in the terrestrial section.  Decomposition is the same, nothing new, same as the aquatic. On the 18th the water was 25 degrees Celsius and the ph level was 8.

Date: 10/21/05
Time: 12:50pm
Looks good. Leaves are dying like before, mold is growing on the plants and we don't see any crickets. Brown apples with a little mold. Things are floating in the water.

Weekly Temperature and pH Chart

DateTemperaturepH level
  10/18/05  25 °C
8
  10/21/05  25 °C 8
 10/25/05  24 °C 8
  10/27/05 24 °C
8
  10/28/05 25 °C
8
10/31/05
 26 °C 7
11/1/05
 25 °C 7
  11/2/05  25 °C 8
  11/3/05  26 °C 8

Analysis

Venn Diagram

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Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window

© 2005 cockroach4

How Many Different Kinds Of Organisms Survived In All The Ecobottles?

Timeline of Organism Survival and Ideas About Life in the Ecobottle

10/10/05

  1. What animals are currently living in your ecobottle?
    •  Crickets and hopefully some snails.
  2. What plants are currently living in your ecobottle?
    • Garden beans and basil seeds.
  3. What animals have died in your ecobottle?
    •  Snails.
  4. What plants have died in your ecobottle?
    • Algae
  5. How many times have your opened the ecobottle?
    • None.
  6. What did you add?(be specific- add dates and times)
    •  Crickets on October 3, 2005 at 1:20 pm.
  7. What did you take out?( Be specific- add dates and times)
    • Water; Friday September 30, 2005
  8. What has surprised you the most about your ecobottle?
    • The plants
  9. What do you think will be the biggest change in your ecobottle between now and Friday 10/14/05? 
    • The plants

R.I.P Timeline




© 2005 cockroach4

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Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window

© 2005 cockroach3

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 cockroach3
 

Conclusion

In conclusion, our ecobottle did somewhat well. Over of the months we worked on it here in science class, it was fun. Many outcomes of the ecobottle were different than we expected. But it still puzzles us how our crickets went missing.  Even when we took apart the ecobottle, there were no crickets. So this is a mystery about which we will all be curious. Overall, we did pretty well, but next time I think that we would add more crickets and food for them. Mainly your success really depends on how well you take care of your ecobottle.

Information on the Internet

  • Annenberg Media: Bottle Biology  The Bottle Biology site is a great place to learn about how to make ecocolumns.
  • Wisconsin Fast Plants  The Fast Plants site provides a wealth of information on how to use special types of plants for ecobottle investigations.

Learning Information

About This Page

Author: cockroach3, cockroach4, cockroach1, and cockroach2
Classroom Project: CED Ecobottle
City High School
Tucson, Arizona U.S.A.

License: Tree of Life & Partners uses only - Version 1.0

Correspondence regarding this page should be directed to , City High School

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About This Portfolio
Many thanks to:

Jeff Hartman
City High School

Lisa Schwartz
University of Arizona


University of Arizona

Correspondence regarding this page should be directed to Jeff Hartman at , Lisa Schwartz at , and Kathryn Orzech at

All Rights Reserved.

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