Environmental Science and Aquatic Habitat
Summer Chacon
12/15/12
Environmental Science P. 5
Ecocolumn Lab Report The purpose of an eco-column lab is to show the similarities between that and a real world. It is a useful tool for learning because you get to create and see your own little world. It is very much like the real world because of the communities of organisms that it consists of, along with their physical environment. An eco-column is a closed system. In a closed ecological system, any waste products produced by one species must be used by at least one other species. All materials used in the eco column have abiotic and biotic factors. All the abiotic factors, which are the nonliving things in the eco-column, include the water used in the aquatic habitat, soil used in the decomposition habitat, air, and some rocks that were used in the decomposition habitat. The biotic factors, which are the living things in the eco-column, include the grass and/or the terrestrial plants used in the terrestrial habitat, the fish (guppies) used in the aquatic habitat, and finally the worms that were used to feed the fishes once. Those are all the factors, abiotic and biotic, used in the eco-column. The way my group and I put together our eco-column was we put different things related to the habitats of the eco-column. In the aquatic habitat, we used sand because it provided bottom sediment. We also used untreated tap water because that is what basically makes up the aquatic habitat. Another thing we used was aquatic plants and animals to see how it adapts to the environment. We also conducted tests to gather data on the eco-column. We observe the pH, temperature, nitrates, phosphates, dissolved oxygen in aquatic chamber; in terrestrial chamber: nitrogen, phosphorous levels, and the pH. For the qualitive data, we look at the turbidity, plant growth, decomposition rate, fish status, odor, and the color of the aquatic chamber. How we collected our data is stapled to the back of this report.
12/15/12
Environmental Science P. 5
Ecocolumn Lab Report The purpose of an eco-column lab is to show the similarities between that and a real world. It is a useful tool for learning because you get to create and see your own little world. It is very much like the real world because of the communities of organisms that it consists of, along with their physical environment. An eco-column is a closed system. In a closed ecological system, any waste products produced by one species must be used by at least one other species. All materials used in the eco column have abiotic and biotic factors. All the abiotic factors, which are the nonliving things in the eco-column, include the water used in the aquatic habitat, soil used in the decomposition habitat, air, and some rocks that were used in the decomposition habitat. The biotic factors, which are the living things in the eco-column, include the grass and/or the terrestrial plants used in the terrestrial habitat, the fish (guppies) used in the aquatic habitat, and finally the worms that were used to feed the fishes once. Those are all the factors, abiotic and biotic, used in the eco-column. The way my group and I put together our eco-column was we put different things related to the habitats of the eco-column. In the aquatic habitat, we used sand because it provided bottom sediment. We also used untreated tap water because that is what basically makes up the aquatic habitat. Another thing we used was aquatic plants and animals to see how it adapts to the environment. We also conducted tests to gather data on the eco-column. We observe the pH, temperature, nitrates, phosphates, dissolved oxygen in aquatic chamber; in terrestrial chamber: nitrogen, phosphorous levels, and the pH. For the qualitive data, we look at the turbidity, plant growth, decomposition rate, fish status, odor, and the color of the aquatic chamber. How we collected our data is stapled to the back of this report.