A Biosphere in a Bottle Mrs. Boyd The BioBottle Project
A Biosphere in a Bottle
Mrs. Boyd
The BioBottle Project
What is a BioBottle?
A simplified ecosystem contained within a sealed, 2-
3L soda bottle (“Closed Ecological System”)
Can be terrestrial, aquatic or a combination
A student-designed, synthesis activity illustrating an
understanding of biogeochemical cycles, food webs,
and energy transfer
Advanced Design
Construction of a multi-bottle Biosphere
Using multiple bottles to connect 2-3 biomes
Aquatic & Terrestrial
Wicks and screens
Sealing issues
The Assignment
Each group of 5 students must seal a clear container so that
no matter can enter or leave it.
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 1.5 weeks
A formal, written report will be produced
at the end of the experience consisting of:
Plan (due 10-14!)
Construction
Charts/Diagrams
Observational Records
Conclusion
The PLAN (due 10-14!)
Required prior to construction
Must include:
A. Type of container and method of sealing it airtight.
B. Type of physical environment -- land, freshwater, saltwater or
combination.
C. Non-living objects such as dirt, sand, gravel, wood, shells, etc.
D. Water source (tap, bottled, drinking, purified, aquarium, ocean,
synthetic ocean)
E. Fertilizing agents added, if any (soil water, Miracle Grow).
F. A list of the major plants and animals you plan to include and their
approximate relative numbers. Be sure to plan for greater amounts of life on
the lower parts of the energy pyramid!
G. Give the source of each organism (where you will get it from)
Plan continued…
Biotic components – must include at least
one producer, consumer, and decomposer.
Include numbers and source
Most Important: Rationale for Success –
discuss WHY you think your Bottle
Biosphere will survive for 1.5 weeks once
sealed. Discuss the needs of each organism
and how those needs will be met.
Construction (10-27 for p.2,3,4; 11-5 for p.5,6)
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 macroscopic organisms.
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 on construction day
Record the actual amount (mass, size or number) of each organism sealed into your biosphere
Explain any modifications made from the original plan
Describe your 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
BioBottle Equipment
Construction Equipment:
Clear plastic bottle
heavy-duty, clear box tape
Screen for multi bottle projects
extra balloons/caps
Charts & Diagrams
Purpose: to illustrate how life may be able to survive in your
biosphere
Must have 5 charts:
Food web (1)– how light energy is converted to food energy and cycled
through your biosphere
Biogeochemical Cycle Chart (4)– how materials found in living things
cycle through the biotic and abiotic components of your biosphere.
(carbon, hydrologic, nitrogen, phosphorus, or sulfur cycles)
Each diagram must be on unlined paper not less than 8.5x11
inches. NOT A POSTER!
All drafting and lettering should be neat and clear
Labeled, carefully drawn pictures of all organisms in your
biosphere should be included.
Must be in color!
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 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 group member will make 3 observations for a total of 15.
Sample
Observation:
Name, Date,
Time:
Each observation should include a mention of each macroscopic organism
changes in their quantity, size, condition and behavior
appearance of the water, soil, sediment and the sides of the biosphere
Conclusion (open bottles on 11-5 p.2,3,4; 11-13 p.5,6)
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.
Fourth Part- Explain how your bottle is similar to a real ecosystem.
Explain the limitations of your model ecosystem and how it does not
completely represent a real ecosystem.
Common Issues, Rules, and Questions
1. Keep it simple!!
2. No mammals, birds or
poisonous organisms
3. Remember the 10% rule
4. Lots of decomposers in soil,
but aquatics need natural
sediments or gravel from a
working fish tank
5. No “colonial” organisms
(ants, bees, termites, etc)
Common Issues, Rules, and Questions (cont.)
6. What do plants do at night??
7. Be sure to leave some room in your bottle
for an “atmosphere”
8. What will be the relative humidity in your
bottle? Are your organisms adapted to that?
9. Where can you get your organisms?
a) pet stores
b) bait shops
c) self-collected
d) plant nurseries
Common Issues, Rules, and Questions (cont.)
10. Do I fail if my bottle crashes?
11. Do I have to open up my bottle at the end?
12. What do I do with everything when the experiment
is over?
13. Other questions??
What works well in a Bottle Biosphere?
Aquatics:
anacharis/elodea
Indian waterweed (Hygrophila polysperma)
seed snails (often on the anacharis)
zebra danios
common guppies
betas
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.
What works well in a Bottle Biosphere?
Terrestrial:
grasses
other ground covers
the “leafier” the plants, the better!
isopods (roly-poly/pill bug)
large variety of self-collected insects
crickets
worms (must have good drainage!)
10% rule(avoid 4th trophic level)
Warning: 100% humidity level inside biobottle – crickets mold
and moths stick to the sides!
Report due on 11-13 p.2,3,4
Report due on 11-24 p.5,6
Cover page: title, date, names, period
Plan that was previously graded
Construction description
Color diagrams (5)
Observations (15- very detailed observations)
Conclusion
3
5+10
7
25
15
10
75 pts total