July 20 Final entry

Today is the last day for our eco-column entries as the class is coming to an end. During the two week period, I have seen condensation and evaportation occur. Transpiration was also evident. The life and death cycle was perpetuated. Growth was seen in new roots and leaves in the terrarium, the aquarium, and even in the decomposition chamber. The beetles and mealworms are getting bigger and fatter. Death was observed in the dying of our lizard.

Death in the EcoColumn

I was very upset upon viewing our EcoColumn today! To my demise Lizzy, our lizard, was dead. At first, I though it was due to the lack of food--Fruit Flies, but after thinking about it could it of been due to the temperature of the room where we stored the EcoColumns???? All other living creatures seem to be thriving, but not the lizard! I did observe a fruit fly in our decomposition chamber. ONE! I guess one is better than none! We did however add more fruit fly larvae to the decomp chamber in hopes of more to hatch. Our water is still dark and our salvinia is growing like weeds! Even though I was very disappointed with finding the death of our lizard, I still see lots of progress in other areas of our EcoColumn.

July 18--Sad news!

Today was a sad day for our eco-column. Lizzy the Lizard died today. We have come to the conclusion that the room was just too cold for him and he froze. On the bright side, we had a fruit fly in the decomposition chamber. Our beetles are still having a feast on the banana peel. Michael brought in his fruit flies. We added a little of the banana mush that contained fruit fly larvae to our decomposition chamber. Hopefully by Friday, we will have more than one fruit fly.

Well it seems that the banana peel we added yesterday was a big hit with the beetles! Those two beetles are going to turn into big pigs by the time they finish with the banana peel! In the decomposition chamber I noticed today that we have some sprouting going on inside the humus as well as the very tiny insects I viewed both yesterday and today. I am thinking that these very small insects could possibly be chiggers! The water in our aquarium chamber is getting darker, which could possibly from the cap of the decomposition chamber which has soil material in it, is mixing with the water. At the top of our EcoColumn our frog, lizard, and slug all seem to be thriving. I think they are very hungry, so I hope that the banana gives us some fruit flies soon!!!! We did discover that we had another slug besides the one we put into the decomposition chamber at the beginning which has now took up shop in the top chamber with the frog and the lizard. I wonder how we got another one???? Lots of things going on in our EcoColumn which is very exciting.

July 17th--New Growth

Things are still happening. In the decomposition chamber, a tiny new green leaf has appeared in the humus layer--NOT on top, but in the layer. I wonder what type of seed has taken root.
I really do not like how the water in the aquarium is turning a clear, dark brown color. The water isn't muddy, but it looks bad. I think this is happening because of the tiny soil particles that are slowly draining down through the chambers, especially the decomposition chamber. I wonder if adding a little sand to the bottom of the decomposition chamber would help clear up the water or would the sand fall through. Is there something in bayou water that causes it to become dark brown or is there a chemical(s) from the salvinia that causes the brown color? This needs to be checked out!

I feel that our little lizard needs some type of food. We are waiting for fruit flies. The little slug was visible today. Growth is taking place in the terrarium. The vinca plant is starting to stand taller and the lilly has new roots.

Well today our aquarium chamber water is very brown. Our water is darker than the water in other groups columns. I think the reason may be because we have organic material that is in the middle of the decomposition process and the products are dissolving in the water that we add. This water eventually makes it to the aquarium chamber. Also, I think we've added more water than some of the other groups. My first thought was that something is wrong with ours since it is different from the others, but on second thought maybe its just different. The waterway behind my house is dark brown almost black at certain times of the year. Maybe this is the same. The decomposition chamber is the most exciting chamber. There is just so much activity! The beetles are still on the banana. A tiny slug has appeared. The plum is still decomposing. I wonder how long it takes for a plum to disappear? No fruit flies yet! the lizard is patiently awaiting some fruit flies, as is the frog. Hopefully we'll have some tomorrow.

The condensation is still visible in both the plant and animal habitat as well as the decomposition chamber. The beetles were on the banana peel moving around. I am a little concerned about the water level and color of the aquarium. After observing the other ecocolumns our aquarium water is much darker. We do have salvinia which I didn't see in any of the other aquariums. I would like to know what is causing this difference in coloration. The lizard and frog are still surviving but I am very concerned about their health without the proper diet. How long could they live in this environment and are they getting any nutrition from the habitat?

Our column is evolving

Today the ecocolumn seems to be doing well. Its definitely evolving! The roots of the plants are spreading out in the soil. The network can be seen through the plastic. The lizard is climbing on the wall of the column, but the frog is hiding in the vegetation. The vinca is still growing but is not flowering as it was when it was added to the chamber. We added 8 oz of water today. The water is not being evenly distributed, so one area is saturated, another is moist and one seems to be dry. There is less condensation in the chamber today than there was on Friday. Perhaps this is due to the cloudy days. The decompositon chamber is changing. The mushrooms are soggy now and the plum has a healthy growth of mold on it. No fruit flies! We're adding a piece of banana peel today in hopes of getting some fruit flies for our predators. The spider and the beetles are still in the decomposition chamber. One of the beetles died and is being eaten by some little red bugs that look like mites or ticks. They're the size of the head of a pin! One of the mealworms is burrowing in the litter. The other is burrowed under the plum and is much larger than it was when we added it. It looks like it is about to emerge as a beetle. The aquarium is getting high. The water is almost to the level of the decomposition chamber. The water is brownish. The salvinia roots are getting longer, and new salvinia are growing.

Eco Action

The ecocolumn has condensation in the plant and animal habitat as well as in the decomposition chamber. Lizzy was brown today because she was resting on the soil and camouflaged herself to match the soil. Freddy was also visible sitting on the soil. I worry about the food supply and what they might or might not be consuming. In the decomposition chamber the plum had a fuzzy mold growing on it and I saw one meal worm on the side of the chamber. In the aquatic chamber the two fish and leech seemed fine. In the picture to the right you can see the meal worm in the decomposition chamber.
posted by Phyllis @ 6:48 AM 0 Comments

Things are Happening!

Since last Thursday, several things have happened in the eco-column. Condensation is increasing in the terrarium and decomposition chambers. In the terrarium, the vinca plant is thriving and the grass has put out new roots. The lizard is brown today instead of its usual green color. The frog seemed to have a deeper brown color than normally. In the decomposition chamber, the mushrooms have died and the moss is growing. One of the mealworms is preparing to become a beetle. I saw only one of the three beetles that were put into the chamber, but he seeemed to be posing for the camera. In the aquarium, the water is slowing changing colors. It now has a brown tinge. The fish and the leech are very active and the salvinia has new tiny, green leaves.

Our EcoColumn is doing GREAT! After adding a plum seed to the decomposition chamber last week, I have see lots of things going on in this chamber. Today I observed meal worm in the molting stage hiding under the now white mold covered plum seed. I bet the beetle we put in there from the beginning will be glad to have a friend soon. The water in our aquarium chamber has darkened and the salvinia is doing great. Our fish seem to be enjoying their environment as well. At the top of our EcoColumn, our frog and lizard seem to be doing well in their environment too. today i will be adding a piece of banana peek so that we can hopefully produce some food for the frog and lizard--Fruit Flies!!!

Yesterday I took pictures of our ecocolumn and we observed what was happening. There was a lot of condensation and our insects were moving about. In our plant and animal habitat Lizzy and Freddy seemed very content. We added some water to our decomposition chamber and placed the column back into the window.

Eco-column review

Eco-column up-date: At the end of the 2nd day of the eco-column, condensation was showing in the terrarium chamber. The frog and lizard seem happy in their environment. In the decomposition chamber, the mushrooms and beetles needed a little water. When we set up the chamber, water wasn't added so the insects and the plants were thirsty. Approximately 1/2 cup of "rain" was added.

The EcoColumn seems to being doing what is should based on what I viewed today. Our group added more water for the aquarium part through the porthole located above the decomposition chamber. We also added more water at the very top chamber so that the frog and lizard would have enough water to survive on. The fish seem to enjoy their new homes as well as the meal worms and spider in the decomposition chamber. I did view more condensation occurring in the top and bottom chambers of the EcoColumn.

Well the eco-column is looking very healthy. In the terrestrial section plants are growing well, the lizard is green now and moving around. The decomposition area is active. The mealworms are moving around as are the beetle and spider. The mushrooms don't seem to have been adversely affected by the transplant process. In the aquatic area all organisms are moving about. We added about a half cup of rain to the system today. No algae is growing on the containers yet.

I have enjoyed the experiences that we have shared in our MSP Project. I look forward to this continued education and friendships that we gain from the project. Today we made an ecocolumn which was really fun. We put a lizard that we named Lizzy, a frog we named Freddy, a snail we called Snuggie, a leech named lucy, and two fish we named Frank and Frenchie in our ecocolumn. This was so much fun and I can't wait to see what happens.

Today was a new experience for me. I had never made an ecocolumn, and our group created a 5 tiered column. The bottom section was the aquarium which contained several minnows and a small leech along with salvinia. The next chamber was the decomposition section. We put in a humus from one member's backyard. Mealworms and beetles were added to this section. The next chamber allows us to add items to the decomposition section. The 4th chamber was the terrarium in which we used garden soil and yard soil. We added a frog and a lizard along with grass and a vinca flowering plant. The brown lizard soon became a green lizard. The top chamber is designed for rain. When "rain" was added to the ecocolumn, the frog seemed to be drinking.

The eco-column is a success so far. In the aquatic section we put 2 minnows, Salvinia, a leech, and a few unidentified macroinvertebrates. In the decompositon chamber we added grass clippings, rotting tree matter, leaves and some soil with cow manure added. We also included some moss and 3 mushrooms. We added mealworms and beetles in this chamber also. In the terestrial chamber we put potting soil, living grass, a vinca plant, a small lizard and a small frog. All seem content at this time.