SCIENCE

The components are plants, animals, water, dirt and gravel. The grass is changing. It’s dying, and on some grass there is white on the bottom of the grass leaf. Elodea looks like mini lily pads. Some of the elodea is turning white. They started green but more and more are changing. Our fish is going to die soon because it doesn’t have enough oxygen to live. Our cricket flew away. We got two snails. One was really big and one was really small. They died after a week or two, but when we got our fish we also got a new snail, and it is still alive. (We got our new snail a week ago.)

        Biotic components rely on each other. If there are too many snails that take oxygen there will not be enough for the fish. If there are plants, though, they will give oxygen. Biotic and abiotic components rely on each other. If there is no water (abiotic) then all the living things in the such as fish and snails.

Do you know what a ecosystem is.

Do you know any ecosystem friendships.

Ecosystems

  We are making ecocolumns in class.  An ecocolumn is a terrarium inside a connector with a aquarium on the bottom.  The aquarium can have snails or guppies, we used snails.  In the terrariums you could use bugs sometimes potato bugs, crickets or/and roley polys.  We used crickets.

For people who don't know a terrarium is like a aquarium but for bugs.  We know that because terra means earth.  A terrarium is a field or any place where bugs can live or grass can grow

Photo by Garden Atlanta



  The bottom is a aquarium where we keep our snails and plants.  The reason you need the plants is because the plants will give out O2 (oxygen).  The snails will take the oxygen and give out CO2 (Carbon dioxide)which is what the plants need.  You also might also want to put algae for the snails to eat or they might eat the plants, my snails ate some of our plants off.

Photo by Dabney B.

Have you ever had an aquarium?

Have you ever had a terrarium?

 

Two-Liter Bottles and Ecocolumns

For the past month students have been learning about ecosystems. Starting next week they will be creating their own micro-ecosystems called ecocolumns!

Here is a finished ecocolumn from another school:

Photo by 6th Grade Eco Column and More

Students will be adding each living and non-living component to their ecosystem and observing what happens.  Next, they will design a pollution experiment and carry it out.  They will then observe their polluted ecocolumn and compare it to a control ecocolumn that has not been polluted.  From there, we will compare what happened in our ecocolumns to what's happening in Puget Sound and continue to research ways to help revive an ecosystem in danger!

Please don't forget to send at least one (preferably 2 or more) CLEAR 2 liter bottle to school with your child!  We need them by Monday, September 30.

Contact Mrs. Ambrosio (eambrosio@sha613.org) with any questions!