The End 5-20-13

Today was the final day of our ecosystem in a bottle. Things were not looking to well for the ecosystem the past few days. The onions had shriveled up and they were drooped over. We cut the bottle open today were we had sealed it up before. There was a rush of air as the oxygen inside it escaped because of the pressure it had built up. The first thing we noticed was the horrible stench that came with it. It was the smell of rotten onions. Prodding the onions with a needle we discovered that they were really moist. They were in the process of decomposing. They leaves that we had in top of the dirt were really moist as well. Doing further research we dumped the rest of the contents out onto the ground. The gravel that we had on the bottom of the bottle was wet but there was no water in there. The soil was damp, we searched for the worms but they were nowhere to be found. We did find good root growth in one place, there was a root about 3 inches long. There was mold on the very top of the soil.

If we could do this again, the one thing that I would change is that it would need more carbon dioxide, which means more organism that give that off. I would also put less onions in the ecosystem. The 4 onions we had used up the entire amount of carbon dioxide and put out oxygen and because our worms died there was no carbon dioxide being made and if there was, it would not be enough for the onions to grow.

The End

05/20/13- Reflections

Conclusion- Our ecosystem failed. And it smelled like dead, rotting onions. During our autopsy we discovered that our onions had rotted from the inside out, and we did not find any of the three worms we put inside. The leaves were soggy, and slightly moldy. The corn was gone. There was also, at one point, a weed growing inside that had been brought in through the soil. It was gone as well.

Reasoning- My theory as to why our ecosystem failed is that it ran out of Carbon Dioxide. Elijah exhaled into it before we sealed it, to prolong the supply, but apparently that wasn't enough. Our ratio of oxygen producers to carbon dioxide producers was not balanced correctly.

What would I do differently?- I think, if anything, I would only put in two onions. I would try to find more worms to put inside too. I believe our ecosystem would have been more successful if there were more organisms producing carbon dioxide.

5/20 Opening Day

Today at 9:15 A.M. we opened the ecosystem. At one time our ecosystem was thriving, but last week things started to change. Our middle onion died last Monday, and all of the other onions followed. The corn stopped growing, mold grew, and the worms all died. We picked up a few other plants as well. I believe that there were two unknown plants that started to grow. The smell today was very, very horrible. The decaying onions and the mold was almost too much to handle. We believe that the only problem we had was that the Co2 levels began to lower as the worms died. And with four onions, some corn, and two unknowns the Co2 was unable to be equally shared. Mr. Korf said that we had the record for the worst smell. In total our ecosystem was sealed for 22 days. It survived for about 14 days, until it started to decline. This project was very fun, and a good learning experience. If I had the chance to do the project again we would do a better job at balancing the plants and organisms. 

5-13-13

The bottle has now been sealed for two weeks and one day. The kernel of corn has roots extending half way into the dirt and it has mold growing on it. The middle onion looks healthy but one of its steams has fallen over. Somehow it broke either because it is not getting the nutrients that it needs or that it is just growing. One of our worms is on the side of the bottle but it does not look to good. But we have seen the worms come and go, so we just hope it is just sleeping. The rest of the onions seem to be doing fine.

5/13- Observations

Here are some changes for today:

1. Our middle onion stalk that was growing into two broke and one fell to the side.

2. Mold is now thriving.

3. Our little worm appears to have passed on to the next life.. ); 

05/13/13

There have been some major changes over the weekend. The tallest onion that was growing strong in the center has had a leaf tip over and break, but the other three have gotten taller. (My guess is that the carbon dioxide is running out.) The kernel of corn that sprouted has molded over. The weed that sprouted has not changed.

5-6 Changes

There have been some major changes that has happened over the weekend. All of the onions have grown by almost an inch. The middle onion is now around 2 inches tall. The others are about one inch. The kernel of corn also has grown. There are three roots protruding from it. The roots look to be  an inch long. The dirt does look to be dry, but there is a lot of moister in the top of the bottle so I am not that worried. So all looks very well.