Ecosystem in a Bottle: Week 6

Water: The water in our ecosystem is still clear. The water level seems a bit lower, but there is quite a bit of condensation in the top of the system that could explain why the level has gone down.

Elodea: The elodea is still floating in the water. The color of the elodea seems to have improved. It looked rejuvenated. The entire elodea plant has seven roots that are traveling down to the gravel at the bottom of the ecosystem which we assume is happening so that the plant can anchor itself down as it grows larger and longer.

Snails: Only one snail was stuck to the side of the bottle. The smaller snail was on the gravel at the bottom. We hope it's still alive.

Daphnia: The daphnia are still not visible, although any time the ecosystem bottle is moved, you can see tons of daphnia exoskeletons swirling around.

Seeds/Leaves: More leaves are turning yellow and some are actually turning completely brown. There are a couple of leaves stuck to the side of the ecosystem. Our bean plants are looking pretty sad. As we noted last week, we discovered that we didn't put enough soil so the plants are suffering from a nitrogen deficiency.

 
Soil: The roots of the bean plants are still visible in the soil. There are roots that are now poking out of the top of the soil.