Students thoroughly enjoy building ecocolumns. The supplies here are for an ecocolumn with three chambers: A terrestrial chamber on the top with soil, plants and invertebrates, a filter chamber with sand and gravel, and an aquatic chamber with fish and water plants.
I begin Ecocolumns the 3rd week of school in the fall. To prepare, I ask students to bring in 1 gallon “Crystal Geyser” water bottles. They can be empty or full. I like the water bottles, because they are sturdier than 2-liter soda bottles, don’t tip over as easily, and many families don’t drink soda anymore. (But, many teachers still use soda bottles just fine) Students can donate the purified water in buckets which can be used later on in lab. You can also ask teachers to donate bottles as many teachers at my school bring water for their own use in their classrooms.
Students need 3 bottles to build, but I always have them bring 4, because many need a spare for a mistake cutting the bottles.
This is the exact style of water bottle needed. Similar shapes (Kirkland from Costco) don’t work as well as this shape for ecocolumns.
Buying Supplies
I’m not very strong and can hurt my back easily, so I drag my teenage sons with me to buy supplies. Since I teach 5 sections of APES with 9 groups of students per class, that’s 45 ecocolumns to buy for.
Get construction gravel as its cheap. Students can clean the gravel with colanders. I buy 3 bags for 45 ecocolumns.
Play sand is usually the cleanest sand. Teenage sons are very helpful. I buy 3-4 bags for 45 ecocolumnsAfter years of buying cheaper soil, I now buy Miracle Grow as it has the least amount of silt (which can dirty aquatic chamber water). Its worth the extra price. I buy 2 large bags for 45 ecocolumns.Fortunately, I have a donation account which covers expenses.400 pounds of material ready for building ecocolumnsSeed packages. Look for seeds that germinate quickly as students hate to wait 10 or more days for plants to grow. Herbs are a good choice as they smell good and kids can eat them.
Students must also choose a legume for nitrogen fixation (a valuable part of the learning objectives in ecocolumns)
Other Supplies that I Already Have
I have a colander for each group. They use to clean the gravel. I bought them at the dollar store.Students need scissors, a sharpie to draw lines for cutting and labeling, a box cutter to make initial punctures in plastic, a tea candle and dissection probes for burning holes in lids. Some don’t let students handle the box cutters and instead go around to each table to make the punctures. I’ve never had any problems with students hurting themselves or stealing the cutters. Some teachers also use a different method for drainage holes that don’t require probes and candles.Plant lights if you don’t have a good window. I have several sets of plant lights purchased with grants. You can also build lights yourself inexpensively. Many teachers use windows and they also work well for ecocolumnsFish for aquatic chambers. Gambusia (mosquito fish) are my favorite and I keep them year-round in several aquariums, but minnows and guppies also work well. You can purchase Gambusia from Carolina Biological or ask your local health department vector control for some. You won’t need fish for the initial 2 weeks. Gambusia are great in cold and dirty ecocolumn aquatic chambersFreshwater plant such as elodea (Anachris at the pet store) or duckweed. You will not need for the initial 2 weeks.Probes for water quality testing. DONT PANIC if you don’t have any as they’re expensive. I’ve built up my supply over many years writing grants. Instead, use regular thermometers, buy cheap pH probes or use pH paper, and buy a water testing kit if you don’t have many students. If you have any funds, splurge or a dissolved oxygen probe to rotate. My students rotate and share probes as they only need a probe for a minute or two to get a reading.I use nitrate test strips as I don’t like nitrate probes. I buy several bottles each year for ecocolumns.
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