1. Bottle Biosphere Project
AP Environmental Science
**Lab Report

2. Overview
The Goal is to include a community of organisms that is planned to balance each other in their chemical needs and waste products and to provide an energy flow from the light that enters the container to all living things inside
The test period will run for two weeks
A formal, written report will be produced
at the end of the experience consisting of:
Plan
Construction Methods
Charts/Diagrams
Observational Records
Conclusion
Analysis
How presentation will benefit audience: Adult learners are more interested in a subject if they know how or why it is important to them.
Presenter’s level of expertise in the subject: Briefly state your credentials in this area, or explain why participants should listen to you.

3. The Plan – required prior to construction
Must include:
Type of container & method of sealing (hint: balloons make good lungs!)
Type of environment (aquatic/terrestrial/combination)
List of non-living components
Water source
Nutrients added
Biotic components – must include at least one producer, consumer, and decomposer. Include numbers and source
Most Important: Rationale for Success – discuss WHY you think you Bottle Biosphere will survive for two weeks once sealed. Discuss the needs of each organism and how those needs will be met. A labeled sketch is required at this stage and must be checked off before you may proceed to the Construction Phase
Lesson descriptions should be brief.

4. Construction
Note the date of construction & date each organism is added. Plants may be started prior to addition of animals & sealing
Include as complete a list of organisms as possible, both macroscopic and microscopic
Provide the source of each organism as a clue as to what other life forms may be “hitching a ride”. Also note if you rinsed the organisms prior to adding them to your biobottle
Record the condition of all organisms in your biobottle
Record the actual amount (mass, size or number) of each organism sealed into your biosphere
Explain any modifications made from the original plan
Describe you construction methods – how did you build the thing?!
Include in the construction report anything else that you think is interesting as you build your system
Example objectives
At the end of this lesson, you will be able to:
Save files to the team Web server.
Move files to different locations on the team Web server.
Share files on the team Web server.

5. Materials… Six 2L bottles per group, at least 3 caps
Coffee filter paper
Small, clean rocks
Boba tea straws
Spiders/ praying mantis
Sticks
leaves, grass clippings, fruit pieces (decomposition chamber)
Worms
Rolly pollys
Clear packing tape
Soil
Drill with small hole
Grass seeds
Fish/ snails
Elodea/ water plants
Sand
Other…

6. Charts & Diagrams
Purpose: to illustrate how life may be able to survive in your biosphere
Must have at least two charts/diagrams
Energy Flow Chart – how light energy is converted to food energy and cycled through your biosphere
Biogeochemical Cycle Chart – how materials found in living things cycle through the biotic and abiotic components of your biosphere
Each diagram must be on unlined paper not less than 8.5x11 inches and not more than 18x24 inches
All drafting and lettering should be neat and clearly readable
Labeled, carefully drawn pictures of all organisms in your biosphere should be included in at least one of your diagrams
Color is good!
PHOTOS!!!!

7. Observational Records
Careful, detailed and dated observational records are essential in analyzing what is going on inside your biobottle and evaluating the success of your design
Make your 1st observation prior to sealing the container and then a second immediately after sealing
Thereafter, each member of the team will make a detailed observation every class day, or more often if you notice rapid changes within your biosphere
Each observation should include a mention of each macroscopic organism and any changes in their quantity, size, condition and behavior
Other items to observe include the appearance of the water, soil, sediment and the sides of the biosphere

8. So what happened and what have you learned??
Conclusion
So what happened and what have you learned??
First Part - a survey of what organisms are still alive, in what quantities, and in what condition
Second Part - an explanation of facts that you learned from keeping a record of observations
Third Part – improvements and changes. How would you re-design your experiment a second time? What new information would you seek to gather? Give a reason for each change.

9. Additional Info… Keep it simple!!
No mammals, birds or poisonous organisms
Remember the 10% rule
Lots of decomposers in soil, but aquatics need natural sediments or gravel from a working fish tank
No “colonial” organisms (ants, bees, termites, etc)

10. Common Issues/Questions
What do plants do at night??
Be sure to leave some room in your bottle for an “atmosphere”
What will be the relative humidity in your bottle? Are your organisms adapted to that?
Where can you get your organisms?
pet stores
bait shops
self-collected
plant nurseries

11. What works well? Terrestrial:
grasses (often winter rye collected from the floor of Home Depot)
dichondra & other ground covers
the “leafier” the plants, the better!
isopods (roly-poly/pill bug)
large variety of self-collected insects
crickets (yes, they escape and my room “chirps” for months ;-)
worms (must have good drainage!)
Good time to remind students of 10% rule (avoid 3rd trophic level)
Warning: remind students of humidity level inside biobottle – crickets mold and moths stick to the sides!
Aquatics:
anacharis/elodea
Indian waterweed (Hygrophila polysperma)
seed snails (often on the anacharis)
zebra danios
common guppies
betas
a variety of algae-eaters with good growth of algae in bottle or anacharis
critical – gravel from working fishtank or substrate from a natural source!
Warning!! Many aquaria plants are non-native invasives. NEVER dispose of these plants (or any store-bought organisms) into the environment.