Container Seeds in Ecocolumns
This year, I had packets of donated seeds that my students used in ecocolumns. Two of the packets were varieties made for containers and grew better than any plants had …
Category: Ecocolumns
The ecocolumns lab is a valuable longitudinal lab and a cornerstone to the course. It is a highlight for students and likely the first and most enduring thing they hear about my class before deciding to sign up.
Finishing and Assessing EcoColumns
Finishing EcoColumns is a sad, but necessary part of EcoColumns. Students become very attached to their ecocolumns, but they start to degrade after about 6-8 weeks. Plants begin to run …
Everything Ecocolumns
My students’ favorite lab is building and taking care of Ecocolumns. This lab gives them practice in long-term data collection and a myriad of other essential topics in APES. Here …
Things Go Wrong in Ecocolumns-and its OK!
Things will go wrong in ecocolumns, they always do. And that’s part of the magic of ecocolumns. Being able to say “hmmm” or “huh, I don’t know” and being okay …
10 Scientific Concepts Learned from Ecocolumns
Ecocolumns can teach the kids A LOT of scientific concepts if you are purposeful with the learning. If not, the kids just enjoy growing plants and having a fish and …
Ecocolumns with a Small Budget and with a Big Budget
Sometimes new teachers panic when they see all the shiny probes, grow lights and data measuring stuff that veteran teachers have. Don’t worry…most of us started out with limited supplies …
Building the Aquatic Chamber in Ecocolumns
After two weeks of draining your ecocolumns, its time to build the aquatic chamber. DO NOT RUSH this step. No fish for two more days! Student directions for building ecocolumns. …
Ecocolumn Fish–“O Happy Day!”
After weeks of your students being excited about getting a fish, today is the day! Word of caution–don’t add a fish for two weeks after building the initial column and …
Bugs, Worms, and Leaf Litter…..O my! (Adding detritivores to EcoColumns)
Adding worms is almost as much fun as getting a fish! (NO FISH for two weeks–seriously, don’t do it) After a week of letting the seeds germinate and grow, its …
Planting Seeds in EcoColumns, Taking Soil Data and Setting Up Data Charts
On the second day of building ecocolumns, students add seeds and begin taking data. (This can be the second hour of a block period). Before they do this, however, they …
Cutting and Filling Ecocolumns
Students thoroughly enjoy building ecocolumns. Building usually takes 2 full periods (45-55 min) or one block period. The example here is of an an ecocolumn with three chambers, a terrestrial …
Ecocolumns / lab / Supplies
Buying Supplies for Ecocolumns
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 …
Building EcoColumns Part 5 Making the Aquatic Chamber
This video describes how to build the Aquatic Chamber. Remember, DO NOT build this chamber until 2 weeks of flushing/draining the column have passed.
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