1. While You Wait
Write some ideas about how aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems are connected.
What organisms are involved in this?
How is energy transferred within and between these ecosystems?

2. Bottle Biology – TerrAqua Columns
What observations can you make about this ecosystem?

3. Bottle Construction bottle #1
We’ll use a piece of cheese cloth instead of piece A!

4. Things We’ll Be Adding Water – from Riverside’s streams!
Wicking material – red yarn
Filtering material – Perlite
Soil – top soil purchased from Home Depot
Plants – 20 Alfalfa seeds (fast growing)
Animals – 3 Crickets (plus carrots in case they don’t like Alfalfa). 6 if mortality is your DV.
Cheese cloth overtop to help keep them in

5. What are we changing? (IV)
Pairs will group with another pair and choose either Option A or Option B
Option A – change the “watering” water
Experimental bottle – addition of fertilizer!
50 mL tap water, 50 mL fertilizer solution (½ teaspoon of plant food (miracle grow)/1 gallon water)
Control bottle
100 mL tap water
Option B – change the basin water
Experimental (1) bottle – fill with gray bucket water (parking lot side)
Experimental (2) bottle – fill with orange bucket water (Kipheart side)
Why is this interesting?

6. What are we measuring? (DV)
It’s up to you! Must be the same as the other pair you are working with (tell Mr. Koons when you figure that out).
Some options (must have ≥1 one group of each)
pH of water (measure before you tape you bottle shut)
% of seeds that germinate – count how many you put in! (0% today)
Height of plants (0cm today)
Cricket mortality – how long do they live? (6 today)
What else can you think of? Check with Mr. Koons!

7. Safety Considerations
Scissors
Crickets
WASH HANDS!
READ THE PROCEDURE BEFORE ASKING A QUESTION

8. Biome Check Day 4
Record data for experimental AND control groups (do you remember your DV?)
Plant height – rulers (count how many are at each height!)
pH – pH paper, will need to temporarily remove the top half of your biome
Make a qualitative observation and record it under your data table.
Recommend adding 50mL of water (tap ok) AND add a moist paper towel to hydrate your crickets.
More carrots Wednesday/Thursday
Conclusion scaffolding and cleanup Friday/Monday

9. Muskox Maneuvers Reflection
Reflect on what happened and what the activity represents in terms of animal adaption, predator prey relationships, and limiting factors.
Where the “attack” (wolves) and “defense” (bulls/cows) behaviors effective?
What were to happen if the game was one-sided, in favor of the wolves or the muskox?
How was this activity a model (what is different in real life)?

10. Biome Check Day 6 Take your data (materials in back)
Make a qualitative observation – I will be looking for THREE of these beneath your data table!
Add 50mL of water (tap ok); make sure you paper towel is moist.
Add a carrot or two!
Conclusion scaffolding and cleanup Friday/Monday.

11. Final Day (8/10) with Biomes
Last round of data/observations, cleanup bottles (fish out crickets, top in trash, bottom rinsed/recycled, save rubber band)
Due Thursday/Friday (5/10-11) of next week
Lab sheet completely filled out (including data and qualitative observations)
7 sentence (paragraph) conclusion
Conclusion must include
Evaluation of hypothesis – does the data support?
Control v. Experimental
Thorough discussion of data
Sources of Error
Conclusion may include
Bottle design – what could be improved?
Improvements to the experiment in general
Connection to our class material
Did I miss a day?

12. Sustainability Project Intro Reflection
Write a 3-5 sentence paragraph about the sustainability article in your packet. Do not summarize, but analyze.
Pick a topic – write 3-5 sentences about what you already know about the topic and why you chose it.