Name: Ess. Of Global Science

The Ecobottle Project

Purpose: to make a healthy aquatic ecosystem in a 2-liter soda bottle. If you keep your bottle healthy for 2 weeks, you will win a goldfish. The goldfish will be yours to take home if you choose.

Requirements:

ü PLAN the composition of your ecosystem & its location in the room

ü BUILD your ecosystem

ü MONITOR the health of your ecosystem

ü EVALUATE the health of your ecosystem

You have the following materials for each bottle. You don’t need to use all the supplies, and WITH MY PERMISSION you can trade supplies with another team.

duckweed (tiny floating plants) sand pond water

2 large rooted plants (assorted) gravel distilled water

tap water

In your completed packet I expect to see:

ü the PLAN (a scale drawing of your planned bottle, with materials labeled and amounts used) plus photo of the Ecobottle

ü a daily LOG of visual observations, water temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH, and nitrogen levels; and any changes made

ü an ANALYSIS at the end with time graphs & averages of measurements

ü a REFLECTION on the process and what you learned


Ecobottle Planning

PUT BELOW at least one photo of your completed bottle, with the date taken.

ATTACH your detailed sketch of the Ecobottle. It should be:

· reasonably to scale

· include measurements of materials used

· include labels for all materials

· include the date of the plan and the date the Ecobotle was built


Ecobottle Logs

DESIGN a data table that has room to put 4 days of “log”:

ü the date

ü measurements of water temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH, and nitrogen levels

ü visual observations & notes of any changes made

Have your instructor CHECK OFF your design before you draw it up.

ATTACH your log page(s).

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - CUT HERE - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Ecobottle Analysis

GRAPH each of your measurements over time. You may put each variable on a separate graph or put them all on the same graph.

ATTACH graphs.

Find the minimum, maximum, and average value for each variable. ATTACH.


Ecobottle Evaluation

√+ √ √- DESIGN: My plan produced a healthy ecosystem.

√+ √ √- LAB LOGS: I made accurate measurements each class and recorded them properly.

√+ √ √- ECOSYSTEMS: I have a good understanding of why we measured temperature, DO, pH, and nitrogen.

√+ √ √- WORK ETHIC: I worked independently, was responsible for my workspace, and contributed positively to class climate.

Answer these questions thoughtfully and completely. You can write out the answers by hand or attach typed answers.

1. ANSWER ALL:

a. Did you produce a healthy aquatic ecosystem? What’s your evidence?

b. Which of your variables (temperature, DO, pH, and nitrogen) changed the most over the course of the challenge? Which was the most stable? What’s your evidence?

2. CHOOSE TWO:

a. What was the hardest and easiest parts of this task? Why?

b. Suppose you had unlimited resources for setting up a big aquarium for raising goldfish. Describe what you’d put in your tank and why.

c. Do you like or dislike doing long term labs? Why?

d. Tell me something else about this project that I haven’t asked you and you want to share.