[jentralala]

(If this belongs in a different section feel free to move it mods! )

I'm helping the girl I babysit to do her science fair project, and we've decided on doing a water ecosystem in a bottle/jar. There are going to be two identical bottles (plant wise) with different 'stocking'.

The plan is to have a tablespoon of soil, then 2 inches of sand substrate (probably either playsand or leftover flourite black) and fill it with an equal number of anacharis and ludwigia stems, and then a measured amount of duckweed/water lettuce. I'm either going to do this in a very large soda bottle or a locking large jar.

The 'experiment' would be to have 3 shrimp in each bottle, but one bottle will have Cherries, and another Ghost. (cheapest and most available to me). The experiment will measure which species thrives more.

Any problems/tips/advice? I'm trying to keep it as simple as possible (I was thinking about testing the water and using those results but I figured it would be a bit to advanced for 4th grade:lol and as safe as possible for the shrimp.

 

[jentralala]

I didn't even think of that, that would have been way easier >.< We already started the project though, with the title and the purpose, and I don't think we can change it, since she has to show that part in class tomorrow.

I think what we'll be looking at is survival/growth rate. I don't think we have to get super scientific, more along the lines of 'they did good.'

It's due on the 15th of May.

For what it's worth though, I wanted to do a volcano. But apparently that's what boys do.

 

[jentralala]

You're probably right, but this was the idea she latched on to. She really liked my shrimp and wanted to do a project with them, and this was all I could think of. I should have asked sooner.

The purpose we wrote was 'to see which breed of shrimp thrives best in a bottle ecosystem'. The teacher will check it out tomorrow and we'll see what he says.

 

[jentralala]

Do you think it's safe for the shrimp though? That's my main fear. She'll have to cart both jars/bottles to class on the day of the fair, and I'm terrified of something happening.