Ecosystem in a Bottle: Week 8

Week Eight

October 28, 2013

Water: The water in our ecosystem is still clear. The water level is a little lower than last week. The condensation has also increased. As seen above. 

 

Elodea: The elodea is still floating in the water. It appears to have quadrupled in length at this point. The roots are continuing to grow towards the rocks.

Snails: The snails were hanging out in the gravel today. We think they are still alive because they're anchored to the rocks.

Daphnia: The daphnia are still not visible, although any time the ecosystem bottle is moved, you can see tons of daphnia exoskeletons swirling around. That said, we haven't seen live daphnia since the second week.

Seeds/Leaves: We have a green leaf! Just one, but there are some little green sprigs protruding from the stem of the plants, including those we thought were dead because of their sickly state. There are also new roots coming from all of the plant stems. We suspect the new roots are going to grow towards the soil, as they are searching for nutrients.

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.

Ecosystem in a Bottle: Week 7

Week Seven

October 22, 2013

*Note: This observation is one day later than usual because our class spent Monday at the Texas Memorial Museum for a field trip! 

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

Elodea: The elodea is still floating in the water. The newest elodea spring still looks very healthy. The leaves are long and the plant is a very vivid green. The roots that appeared last week have successfully anchored the plant down into the gravel.

Snails: Both snails are stuck to the bottle (which is good news since we thought one might be dead). We could actually see the snails' antennae moving for the first time. The snails are both suctioned on well and they appear healthy.

Daphnia: The daphnia are still not visible, although any time the ecosystem bottle is moved, you can see tons of daphnia exoskeletons swirling around. That said, we haven't seen live daphnia since the second week.

Seeds/Leaves: About 80% of our leaves have turned yellow. The plants themselves are very spindly looking and they appear frail. We suspect this is linked to a nitrogen deficiency as mentioned in an earlier post.

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.

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.

Ecosystem in a Bottle: Week 5

Week Five

October 7, 2013

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 original spring is still slightly brown on the edges. The new sprig, however, looks very healthy with longer, very green leaves. The entire elodea plant has roots that are traveling down to the gravel at the bottom of the ecosystem (as seen in the first picture) 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: We have about 5 leaves that are turning very yellow (see picture 2) and some are actually turning brown on the end. We observed our TA's ecosystem and found that she did not have any yellow leaves. She put more soil in her ecosystem, leading us to believe our leaves are yellowing due to a nitrogen deficiency that is keeping the plant from making enough chlorophyll. (Read the Wiki Page on Nitrogen Deficiency Here)

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.