Day 9-Carrie: Dying Fern

I have a concern about the fern in the aquatic chamber, which I presumed to be the only oxygenator for the creatures in that compartment. It appears that the fern stem is no longer green, but browning, which I believe is going to result in it dying off and the chamber no longer having a large enough source for the leach and minnow. The algae would likely not be enough to sustain life there. ......sob.....

Day 9 Maryanne

The first thing I noticed today was that the leech was very active, and the water is cloudier with more algae. What should have been added to keep the algae growth in balance? One of the plants is still green while the top portion of the other continues to brown. Floating on the surface of the water are what resemble small leaves that were not part of the plant we placed in the water. Could these leaves have sprouted from some seeds or spores that we inadvertently placed in the aquarium at the beginning?
Much more moisture was present in all of the columns. The plants are putting down more roots that are visible through the sides, but still no sign of the spider or grasshopper. Why? Did they starve because there was no food for them? Today we added larvae to the decomposition chamber that should produce fruit flies. Will they thrive? Keep tuned for the latest updates.

Day 9

The aquatic chamber was a little cloudier today and appeared to be greener. Did we place too much algae in this chamber on the first day? Our leech was moving about like crazy- was the water too cold for him? Tad the tadpole has continued to hoover around the bottom of the chamber. In the decomposition chamber there was an orange looking fungus on the potato peel. White mold continues to grow on the other vegetable pieces. Today we added fruit fly lavae to the decomposition chamber with the intent to harvest fruit flies. There is still no evidence of animal life in the terrestrial chamber.

Day 8-Carrie

Why green?...hmm...it appears that the water in our aquatic chamber is greener than that of the other groups ecocolumns. I have to assume that the lack of soil in our decomposition chamber has much to do with this current situation, however, is the green a result of algae growth or diffusion of chlorophyl from the fern (is that even possible?) or a fungal growth? What factors should I be looking for?

Day 8

There is very little change today. The aquatic chamber remains unchanged, the water remains the same shade of green and life still exists. The vegetable scraps added yesterday have begun to mold in the decompostion chamber. There is no sign of animal life in this chamber. Is there life living within the materials that we simply cannot see? Should we add animals to this chamber? What would happen if we disturbed the materials and incorporated more oxygen into the chamber? Would this have an effect on the other chambers?

Day 8 Maryanne

There doesn't appear to be much change in the ecocolumn except for an excessive amount of condensation in the decomposition and soil chambers. The aquatic chamber continues to have a definite green color due to the algae. Tad, the tadpole, the snails and the leech are still alive. The snail and leech seem to be fine and moving around a fair amount. However, the tadpole still hardly ever moves. The water plant stem and one small section has turned brown. Is this the beginning of its demise? No sign of the spider or grasshopper still. Hopefully, they are in hiding. The decomposition chamber is decomposing more quickly.

Day 7 Maryanne

"Tad" the tadpole seems adjusted to the new environment. He is still hovering near the bottom, but he is moving around a little. The snail and leech are still present also.
The water appears clean, but is more green. Could it be that the algae is growing in the prescence of the sunlight. Will there be enough life in the tertiary to keep the algae growth in check?
A piece of eggplant, green bell pepper and a potatoe peel was added to the decomposition chamber today. The mushroom and lettuce that was added earlier have decomposed. A slight amount of moisture is forming in the chamber and more settling of the leaf mixture has occurred. There appears to be mold forming. There is still no sign of any fruitflys. How long can the spider and grasshopper survive without them?
There is more moisture that has accumulated in the soil section. The plants are growing well. One of the plants has a couple of leaves that have turned yellow. What may have caused that? The spider and grasshopper are still hiding. Are they still alive?

Day 7 Felicia: After the first weekend

Aquatic level- the water has turned green. Our tadpole is still living, as well as the leech. There is moisture on the walls of this chamber. The snails were on the walls at the top of the water level. Algae remains on the bottom. Will there be enough algae produced to sustain life? How long with life be able to survive in this column?
Decomposition level- Mold has begun to grow in this chamber. Moisture has developed on the walls. Today we added a piece of bell pepper, green eggplant peel, potato peel. The foods added on the first day are no longer recognizable, they have begun to decay. How has the chemical composition of the chambers changed since we created them?
Terrestrial level-The plants appear to be thriving, with moisture on the walls. There is no sign of the cricket or spider we placed in there the first day. Are they hiding or no longer alive?

Day 7 Carrie: Observations

The kritters seem to be doing fine in the lower aquatic chamber of the column: leach, snails, minnow, all seemingly healthy. The decomposition chamber exhibits a minute amount of moisture, so Felicia added more materials that she feels will add more moisture such as eggplant, potatoe, and bell pepper pieces.

The upper terrestrial chamber has green life, which would give the impression that the gases and moisture are in fair balance, however, we are unable to locate our cricket and spider. There are no webs that would indicate that spider is active, also.

Should I "shake things up" and try to move materials around to locate the terrestrial creatures or just let things remain settled? How would shaking up the column to reveal any hidden life affect the decomposition chamber?

Day 2-Condensation Concerns

Day 2 Carrie- Condensation Concerns

The levels of the ecocolumn are not reacting as I supposed, especially the middle decomposition layer. Without having added soil to the layer, we are noticing that there is a minimum of moisture which may result in delayed decomposition. If the aquatic life in the level below are dependent on the broken down mineral content of the upper chamber, will we see a loss of life there? Is it possible that the dryer nature of the decomposition layer will draw moisture up through the down spout to meet the needs of the middle chamber?

Our aquatic life was very sluggish today, lying on the bottom of the bottle with occasional swishes. This could be a result of too little plant life in that chamber, although there is a water fern present with considerable algae.

Day 2 Maryanne

Well, at least Tad survived the night in his new environment. The water is still clear and the aquatic plant appears to be green and doing well. He has not moved hardly at all today. Could it be that the water is too cold for him? Moving up to the decomposition section it is noted that there is very little condensation. There is no soil in there. Could it be that the material is acting like a filter that lets the water flow straight down to the pond? The upper chamber has collected quite a bit of condensation on the sides of the column at the top surrounding the air. There also are even greater amounts of condensation on the sides of the column at the area surrounding the soil. The spider and grasshopper could not be spotted today. Perhaps they have found a niche in the vegetation.

Day 2 Felicia

Today our tadpole was very sluggish. Could it be that the water was too cold for him? Eventually we did see some movement of him (What a relief- we're not murders yet!). The spider and cricket were not visible- hum! There was condensation in the terrestrial chamber but not in the decompostion chamber. We noticed other groups had condensation. Is this because there was dirt in the other columns and not in ours (within the decomposition chamber)? Should we add moisture to our decomposition chamber? Is condensation necessary? Will the water be drawn up from the aquatic chamber into the decomposition chamber?

Day 2 Carrie: Pre Observation Post

It will be interesting to see if the animal life made it through the night! We have included what we anticipated would be enough ogygen producers in the upper and lower levels of the column. The picture shows that there are grasses and two tree seedlings in the upper level.

Day 2 Carrie: Ammonia Concerns

The system concerns that I have are that there may be an overabundance of ammonia build up in the lower aquatic level as the creatures secrete waste. This would be devasting for them. What the middle level has to offer the lower, as it decomposes, is still a mystery to me!

Day 1 Maryanne

Today we set up an ecocolumn that had three sections. The tertiary was composed of pond water, a tadpole, snail, leech, algae, and a fern type water plant. The decomposer section consisted of a bottom layer of leaves, grass clippings, cedar mulch, a banana peel, mushroom and lettuce. The soil had a great deal of mulch mixec in with black humus and clay. Plants were diversified to include a gum seedling, oak seedling, grasses, and weeds. A spider and grasshopper were moved into this top floor condominium.

It is our wish that all of the living organisms will thrive in this environment. Will the tadople have enough food to eat and oxygen to survive? He seemed frantic when we put him in the ecocolumn. Will the stress of the new environment be too much for him?

Will fruit flys hatch to provide food for the spider and grasshopper. We will watch carefully for two weeks and report daily.

Day 1Felicia

Today we created an Ecocolumn using 2 liter bottles. Members of our group brought in various materials. The aquatic level(bottom) contains pond water, snails, leech, rodifer, algae, tadpole, and plant life. In the decomposed chamber we placed grass clippings, dried leaves, banana peel, mushroom slices, lettuce,and cedar mulch. We will continue to add to this level as needed. A gum tree seedling, oak tree seedling, grass, and weeds were placed in top level filled with soil consisting of clay, dirt, and pine needles. There is also a spider and cricket at this level.

Speculation questions discussed included:
*How does energy enter the "system"?
*Is the system open or closed?

We will observe the system everyday and pose new questions as they arise.

Day 1Carrie-Setting up the ecocolumn

We 3 Queens of Cluelessness managed to put together an ecobottle with an aquatic level, a decomposition level, and a terrestrial level. Felicia and Maryanne are setting up the terrestrial level in this picture. We will be monitoring changes in the atmosphere and chemical composition of the bottle for the next couple of weeks. Hopefully, the tiny creatures in this system will not suffer too greatly from our clueless condition. We hope that all will thrive in spite of us! LOL