How to Make an Ecosystem From a Rotting Log
Many children learn best through visual aids and demonstrations. This is especially true in science, a subject that talks about concepts either too large or too small for students to see for themselves. However, teachers can grow or shrink some of these concepts into more tangible demonstrations, like ecosystems. Many ecosystems are huge, with dozens of plants, animals and insects working together to maintain them. Students can create a miniature ecosystem of their own from a rotting log and a few other supplies. This project helps to show them how ecosystems work on a larger scale. Plus, it's gross so many students will love that, too.
Other People Are Reading
Instructions
-
-
1
Soak a log about 6 inches thick and 3 feet long in lukewarm water for 24 hours to make sure it is nice and moist several layers through. Both green and dried logs work, but green logs decompose and attract insects and animals more quickly.
-
2
Pour one individual serving of plain yogurt into a blender and add about 4 square inches of moss. You can harvest moss from outside by simply pushing a finger underneath it; it has no roots. Blend until the mixture looks like green paste. Do not eat the mixture or use the blender for food.
-
-
3
Smear the moss and yogurt mixture onto the wet log and set the log in a warm, moist, shady area with lots of vegetation around it. Moss should begin to grow in two to three days and help begin to break down the log.
-
4
Check on the log every few days. Moss and fungus should be growing as decomposers and attract omnivorous insects and animals like ants, termites and mice. Small carnivores like lizards will arrive to eat the omnivores; plants like ferns will feed off the rotting log as producers.
-
1
