Week 6

During this week we added another cup of water to the entire eco column. I also dumped out some water in the aquatic chamber because it was beginning to get full form the watering. Another note to add is that I added another cricket to the terrestrial chamber because there were no other crickets in sight which lead me to believe that they are either hiding or that the anole has been on clean up duty. Other than that, that is all the changes I personally made to the eco column.

This week I notice a few new things that are happening in our eco column. One new feature that I did not notice until yesterday was that our decomposition was changing. Our moses that we put in there the first day are starting to grow under the crushed leafs and spreading throughout that chamber. I notice this because I saw some root taking place and the leafs on the moss are getting taller. I believe that in do time, our moss is going to look something like ummm, amazing group where the stem will continue to grow and the leafs becomes noticeably bigger. For now all we can do is wait until the moss becomes bigger to see what will really happens. One reason why I think the moss is starting to grow is because we watered our eco column. While I did say that the eco column was watering itself, it was only watering things on the side of the eco column no the middle part where a lot of things are. I also said that the humidity inside the eco column was high enough that we do not need to water anything, but I notice I was wrong because after the 4th week of not watering it, the plants started to wilt. Another reason why the moss is growing is maybe because of our anole. At first there were no change in the decomposition chamber and that be because there was nothing to produce CO2 for the plants. In the world there are CO2 being released everyday by humans, animals, natural fires, and fossil fuel and this is what helps plants grow and take root. As plants grow, they use the soil by forming new roots and the soil is made of bio degradable like leafs and fruits. So for plants to grow they things that release CO2 and for our eco column it is the anole and the surviving crickets.

In our terrestrial chamber, there are a lot of things that are happening. One major difference is that the root system of the plant is going out of control!!! The plants in the chamber is now evading our decomposition chamber very slowly and there is hardly anything we can do to stop it. I notice a few new plants starting to form in this chamber thanks to our watering the soil and our animals by providing the CO2 that is needed by the plants. This new plant seems like it could be a flower when it blooms because there are buds at the tip of each branch. As for our animals, the crickets remain to be seen anywhere, while our anole is moving throughout our terrestrial chambers. During this week our anole sheds it's skin. I went on wikipedia and search for anole and they said that when you notice spots forming in the head area, that means it is stress. So for now I think we are doing well keeping it happy.

As for our aquatic chamber, all the water plants are also going out of control in that it is growing to an extent that we have to cut it so that it can stay in the aquatic chamber. The plants are taking roots within the water and that it is growing to the very tip of the chamber to where the stem of the plant have to bend so that it can continue to grow. Other then the plants growing all over the place, our minnow is still alive and doing well. One thing that I recall from my past about taking care of fish is that fish will die when they are moved from one water source to another source. In this case the fish was moved from an open pond to a small chamber. The stress level of the fish can reach to such heights that is could die and that is what I think happen to the other fishes that were in there before. Our minnow is still alive from the first day we put it in there and the only way the minnow is getting energy to survive this long must be from the plants that are very rich in nutrients by the looks of how it is growing.