Lesson Plan #:AELP-BIO0014
An AskERIC Lesson Plan
Submitted by: Jess Lang
Endorsed by: Dr. Don Descy
Description: Students will construct an aquatic ecosystem
in a two-liter pop bottle. The stock organisms will be: water plants, snails,
and fish. Students will record data concerning the observations they make
over a four-week period.
Grade Level: Intermediate
Goal: Students will exercise important early scientific skills,
like observing, measuring, classifying, communicating data, inferring,
Students will, in groups of four, construct aquatic habitats in pop bottles.
Students will create charts to record data from observations.
Students will observe the habitats over a period of four weeks, and record
what they see--changes in population, plant growth, water quality, and
At the end of the observation period, students will graph their data.
Students will write explanations for what they observe. Also, questions
will be posed with specific questions, such as: "What would happen to your
plant population if you added more snails?" or "What environmental factors
do you think influenced the growth of your fish/snails/plants?" or "What
do you think would happen if the fish population doubled? Quadrupled?"
2 two-liter pop bottles for each group
Over a four-week period, have the students record daily observations in
journals. Suggest certain things for them to be watching for, like plant
growth or population changes. Ask for quantitative measurements (exactly
how many? exactly what size? how many days?) as well as qualitative (what
color? what shape? slow or quick movement?).
Cut The top off one bottle, at the shoulder (where it tapers). Cut the
base off another bottle and score it with holes. This is the cover.
Fill bottom of bottle with sand, two inches deep.
Add water--slowly, to minimize sand displacement--and then root three ten-centimeter
elodea stalks firmly in the sand. Sprinkle a small amount of duckweed onto
the water's surface.
Let the aquaria stand overnight to let the sand settle, and to allow chlorine
from water to dissipate (if tapwater is used).
Add two guppies and two snails.
During the observation period, have students research pond ecology and
the organisms involved in the project.
At the end of the observation period, have the students graph the information
they've obtained through observation. At this time, they should write hypotheses
to explain some of the things they've seen.
Are the aquaria appropriately stocked? Have they been well-maintained?
Are observations recorded at regular intervals? Are graphs drawn correctly?
Are hypotheses based in fact?
Information about bottle aquaria taken from _Bottle Biology_,
copyright 1993, by the Bottle Biology Project, University of Wisconsin--Madison.
This activity has been copied, with permission, from the
Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) server to ours, to
allow faster access from our website. We encourage you to explore the
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