Building the E-Column

7/28/2019 Building the E-Column

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Terrestrial chamber

Filtration LayerSoil/potting soil

Seeds/plant

Decomposition chamber

Leaf/grass material

Potting soil

Fruit, potato

Fruit fly/worms

Aquatic chamber

Substrate material (sand/gravel,

aquarium rock)

Guppy, other organisms

aquatic plant

The Ecocolumn



Activity: Building the Ecocolumn

Part A. The Terrestrial Chamber

1. Germinate the seeds.a. Measure the mass of 5 seeds. Find the average.

b. Place the seeds in a bed of moist cotton

spread out in a petri dish.

2. Prepare the terrestrial chamber .

a. Have a layer of gravel, stone, and sand at the bottom.

This will serve as a filtration layer . Measure the mass of

each material before placing these into the chamber.

b. Place soil on top of your filtration layer. Measure the

mass of the soil. Use pH paper to determine its acidity.

c. Plant your germinated seeds.

d. Make small holes in the cap and a bigger hole to insert

a piece of plastic straw. This will allow water to pass through

and will connect this chamber with the decomposing chamber.

Terrestrial chamber

Sand, gravel, stones

Soil/potting soil

Seeds/plant

Note: Mark the area first with

the desired height before you

start cutting the bottle




Part B. The Aquatic Chamber

1. Decide on what organisms you plan toinclude in your aquatic chamber.

2. Mark and cut the bottle to the desired height.

3. Make a port hole for easy access. This should be

above the water level.

4. Measure the mass of the substrate material you

plan to use. Place your substrate material at the

bottom of the bottle.

5. Add water. Make sure to measure the volumeof water before this is added.

6. Measure the temperature and pH of the water.

7. Add your organism/s.

Aquatic chamberSubstrate material (sand/gravel,

aquarium rock)

Guppy (optional)

Snail

aquatic plant




Part C. The Decomposition Chamber

1. Mark and cut the bottle to the desiredheight.

2. Make small holes in the cap to allow water to

pass through.

3. Make a small port hole enough for athermometer to pass through.

4. Measure the mass of an empty zip loc bag.

5. Collect the desired amount of decayed material

and place in the zip loc bag. Measure its mass.

6. Place the decayed material in the chamber.

7. Measure the temperature of the decayed

material.

Decomposition ChamberLeaf/grass material

Potting soil

Fruit, potato

Fruit fly/worms





In their notebook, answer the following:

Create a list of biotic and abiotic factors

Draw a labeled diagram of the chamber.

What is present in your chamber that will help

sustain life? Absent? What must be done for

organisms in your system to survive?

Documents

Building the E-Column