Ecosystem Column Lab - Montgomery County Schools

Ecosystem Column Lab
Purpose: This lab will provide an opportunity to explore several types of ecosystems, the
components within each ecosystem, the conditions required for the sustainability, and the
interconnections between the various chambers composing the column.
Materials (per lab group):
• 2-liter clear plastic bottles (6) with the labels removed completely*
• 2-liter bottle caps (3)*
• Scissors (1)
• Soil (top soil – 1 bag)
• clear packaging tape (1 roll)
• straw (1)
• sand (1 bag)
• gravel ( 1 bag)
• rocks (1 bag)
• fist-sized insoluble rock*
• seeds or viable plant cuttings*
• leaves, grass clippings, and / or fruit pieces*
• selected aquatic plants (anacharis, elodea, duckweed, hornwort, green hedge, ludwigia, etc.)*
• terrestrial fauna (pillbugs, earthworms, earwigs, fruit flies, etc.)*
• aquatic fauna (small fish (Beta Fish), small aquatic snails, etc.)*
* Students will bring these materials to school.
Procedure: Setup your EcoColumn as per the diagram found on the next sheet.
Monitoring:
Over the next 10-12 weeks, you will monitor all possible abiotic and biotic factors
pertaining to your ecosystem column. Data is to be recorded regularly (see form
attached) and is to be included in the final lab report. Use the attached data sheet as an
example to help organize your record keeping. All data collected and associated analysis
charts / graphs will be attached to your formal lab write-up.
Deliverables:
Answer all questions found in the Ecosystem Column Lab Questions section as per this
sections instructions. At the conclusion of the lab submit an INDIVIDUAL formal lab
report as per the format specified at the beginning of the year. Use the section
“Ecocolumn Formal Lab Report Guidelines” to help focus your efforts and organize the
information you might include in the final report.
Points to ponder
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Differences between the chambers
Food chains and food webs present
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Biogeochemical cycles in action
Compare and contrast your simulated ecosystems with natural ecosystems outside
the class room.
Open or closed system? Which applies to your ecosystem column?
Describe the available niches
Is there any evidence for competitive exclusion or resource partitioning?
Have you observed the law of tolerance in action?
What limiting factors exist?
Discuss evidence of ecological succession taking place in your column
Compare and contrast your lab group’s column with others in the course
Discuss the stability and sustainability of your ecosystem column
EcoColumn Schematic #1
Base of bottle w/very small holes to
allow slow drainage
Terrestrial
Chamber
Filter
Chamber
Caps (enlarged view) w/small holes that
allow water to pass through slowly
Aquatic
Chamber
Window-for removing water
samples
Permanent marks indicate volume every
100 milliliters beginning at 1 liter
EcoColumn Schematic #2 (Student Science Diary Rendition)
Water Analysis
Date
Odor
Turbidity
Color
Nitrate
-N
Phosphate
D.O.
Hardness
Carbon Dioxide
Chloride
Alkalinity
Ammonia
-N
Silica
Sulfide
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pH
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Biome Observations
Date
Aquatic Habitat
Decomposition Habitat
Terrestrial Habitat
Other
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Ecosystem Column Lab Questions
Answer the following questions in complete sentences, providing sufficient detail and
explanations. Response should be clear, organized, and as comprehensive as possible. If
your handwriting is difficult to read, it may be difficult to find points in your responses.
1. Propose three possible reasons why there are such large differences between the
Ecosystem Columns in the lab.
1. Identify two Food Chains or Food Webs in each of your habitats (chambers). Use
arrows to illustrate these food chains and food webs; complete sentences are not
required for question 2 a, b, or c.
a. (a)Aquatic Chamber
b. (b)Decomposition Chamber (top soil chamber)
c. (c)Terrestrial Chamber
3. Identify and briefly discuss the biogeochemical cycles which are taking
place/which are present in your EcoColumns. Do not merely state that “they are
all present”; instead, provide more specific information.
4. Compare your lab group’s somewhat “contrived” or “manufactured” ecosystems
with ecosystems found outside the classroom. Describe (i) three similarities and
(ii) three differences.
5. Is your ecosystem column a closed or open system? --- or is it something in
between a closed or open system? Explain how this (closed, open or other)
influences the ecosystem column overall.
6. What kind of niches are available/present for the various organisms in the
column? Be specific, descriptive, and use terminology that is pertinent to the
topic.
7. Have you observed any instances of competitive exclusion occurring? Explain.
(Include a brief description of what competitive exclusion is in your response.)
8. Over the course of the last 6 weeks, you have likely observed the Law of
Tolerance in action. Discuss three specific examples of this ecological principle
or law regarding your ecosystem column.
9. Discuss five limiting factors in your habitats, clearly stating which chamber(s)
you are referring to.
10. Discuss evidence of ecological succession taking place in your column (or in the
column of another lab group if you have not observed any signs of succession in
your column).
11. Discuss the stability and sustainability of the ecosystem columns in the lab,
including your own.
12. Discuss three trends or patterns which stand out as you think back on the data
which you have been recording for 6 weeks. These trends or patterns should
apply to the water quality tests or other observations which you have made over
this multi-week time period. Briefly discuss these three trends or patterns,
providing possible explanations based on environmental science principles.
13. Explain what eutrophication refers to and how this occurs. Apply this explanation
to your ecosystem column. How might eutrophication take place in your column?
Explain fully.
14. If you could add another chamber to your column, other than simply placing an
extension on top or increasing the volume of each chamber, what type of chamber
would you add? You need to come up with some feasible, realistic, and perhaps
creative additional chamber. (Do not state that you would “leave it as it is”).
ECOCOLUMN FORMAL LAB REPORT GUIDELINES
Required Format:
Typed, double spaced, Times New Roman or Arial font only, 1” margins on all sides,
page numbers, title page (w/ name, lab partner(s) name, title, date and NO page number),
references page
Project Write Up:
9 Title
o This should be creative but still descriptive of the experiment. Titles
should be as informative as possible while maintaining clear and concise
language. Do not entitle the project “Ecosystem column” or some vague
variation that would be unclear to someone not in this class.
9 Purpose/Hypothesis (~.5 page)
o The purpose/objective should be clearly identified. Why did you conduct
the experiment? What specifically are you trying to discover by creating
your ecosystem column?
o Write a hypothesis for each of the three chambers: terrestrial, aquatic, and
decomposition. These should be in the form of “If…Then…” statements
and some explanation for WHY you think this should be provided.
9 Methods (~1 page)
o Write an explanation of how your eco-column was created. Your
methods should be detailed enough that someone unfamiliar with your
experiment can take your write up and successfully repeat your
experiment.
9 You DO NOT have to explain in detail how the bottles were
constructed. You may simply say “Ecocolumn bottles were
cleaned, prepared, and cut according to the directions provided by
the teacher”.
o This section should be in a narrative in clear and concise English, not in
recipe form (i.e., do not say first we did this, then second we did this, then
third we did this).
o The methods should be written in PAST tense always telling what was
done not what should be done.
o Avoid the use of personal pronouns (I, we, she, he etc.).
9 Instead of saying: “Then I took the pH probe and stuck it my
column”, you should say “A pH probe was used to measure pH in
the eco-column.”
o Some important details to include (in no particular order):
9 The date the column was set up/broken down
9 Precise descriptions of what/how much/ etc was added to each of
the three components (terrestrial, aquatic, decomposition)
9 The number of days the eco-column system has been functioning
(i.e., what was the duration of the experiment?)
9 The total number of sampling events
• What did each sampling event consist of?
• What quantitative variables were measured and how?
What qualitative variables were measured and how?
9 The dates of any physical changes you made to the column (i.e.,
when you added new fish, plants, water, rocks to the caps, etc.)
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Results (2 pages, attached to the back of the report)
o You are responsible for creating ONE TABLE. Create this table using
the template provided your teacher.
o You are responsible for creating ONE GRAPH that shows water quality
variables over time.
9 Time should be on the X-axis and the quantitative variables should
be on the Y-axis.
9 Create this graph in Excel using the template provided
9 Depending upon the trends in your data, choose a couple of water
quality variables and compare the results between your 2 columns
Discussion (2+ pages)
ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS. NUMBER EACH
QUESTION. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO RETYPE THE QUESTIONS!!
1. Highlight the important changes/trends (both quantitative and qualitative)
that occurred in your column and discuss the underlying causes/reasons
behind these changes. The goal would be to try to make sense of the
changes you observed and logical deduce why your column behaved as it
did.
2. Compare your water quality data to known standards. Was your water
within the range of tolerance for typical aquatic species (refer to WQ
Variables Chart)?
3. Discuss general trends between your two columns. In what ways were
they similar? In what ways were they different? Why?
4. Pick another group in your class. How do your data compare to theirs?
Brainstorm some causes/reasons for any differences.
5. Discuss your hypotheses. Was your hypothesis for each ecosystem
chamber supported by your data and results?
6. Discuss how the three ecosystems (terrestrial, aquatic, decomposing) are
interrelated to each other (what are the links?). How is matter being
cycled and energy flowing in the column?
7. The eco-column is a “somewhat closed” system. Brainstorm one specific
way to make this system more closed.
8. Finally, address any sources of error in this lab. This should be narrated in
a “cause and effect” manner and talk about specific problems. A good
example would be “water did not drain from the terrestrial chamber so …”
while a bad example would be “we messed the measuring one day.”
o
¾ Conclusion
-Write a brief summary paragraph as your “conclusion”. Address what did
you learn that you did not know prior to the experiment? What were the most
important findings of the project and why?
9 References
• You must use at least three (3) sources in your report.
• Cite them using the correct parenthetical or footnote format as indicated by
the CCDS Humanities Department Research Guide