October 28, 2013

Our ecosystem looks like it is starting to die on the top, but still thriving on the bottom. The leaves at the top are more yellow than green. We noticed that our string has disintegrated and is floating at the bottom. Since it is harder to get water to the top of the ecosystem, it is making it harder to get the nutrients from the bottom of the ecosystem. Some are still green and leaves are still growing. On the bottom of our ecosystem life can be seen by the thriving Elodea. Some snails have died, but there are signs of new baby snails. There are also roots starting to stick out heavily on both parts of the ecosystem. One thing that was strange was that there were black particles floating at the top. Since the rope is no longer reaching the bottom of the ecosystem, our group thinks that the top part will soon die off very soon. While the bottom will still be thriving. 

October 14, 2013

After this observation it seems that the top half of our eco-system is slowly dying, while the bottom half still seems to be growing. The soil is still wet which allows new leaves to grow, but they are not as big as the ones from the first days of observations. The old leaves are browning and dying leaving no room for the new leaves to grow, which is why they are growing towards the middle of the stem. It was interesting to see the roots growing from the middle of the stem. We are not too sure why this is happening, but we are thinking it is looking for more nutrients. Both the plant and elodea roots are going down to the bottom anchoring the roots into the gravel. In the bottom half of the bottle we see more growth in the elodea, clear water, and the baby snails still seem to be alive. This shows that this section is still thriving and has more nutrients. Finally, since there is still condensation at the top and water level still seem to be consistent, showing the water cycle is still taking place.

October 7, 2013

-particles in the water
-leaves are browning/withering
-some new leaves forming further down
-can only see 2 snails
-roots extending into water, roots are white
-Elodea is healthy and growing
-heavy condensation
-water is leaking
-Soil still damp
-beans which had fallen are completely disintegrated