Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Habitat Fun

These are so much fun to make! I did them with a summer camp group of kids that are 2nd grade and up. The moisture from the aquarium will water the grass seed and the plants provide the oxygen for all the animals.

This is what they look like when they are finished

This is the aquarium layer


This is the terrarium layer




Materials:
Three 2 liter bottles
Aquarium rock
Aquarium plants (not too many)
3 guppies
3 snails
Soil
A few earthworms
A cricket
Some potato bugs
Grass seed
A potato
Rubber band
A pair of pantyhose
Packing Tape


Step 1. Cut the top off of one of the bottles. Add the gravel and the plant to the bottom. Fill with water and add the guppies and snails.

Step 2. Cut the bottom off the second bottle. Place a small section of the pantyhose over the top part of the bottle and rubber band it on. Tip it upside down so that the spout with the pantyhose over it is upside down. Fill it 1/3 of the way with soil and add the grass seed to soil. Next, add the earth worms, potato bugs and the cricket. Add a piece of the potato for the critters to munch on. We also added some leaf litter and a few small rocks/sticks.

Step 3. Cut the top and bottom off another bottle. You will make a coupler with this chunk.

Step 4. Tape the coupler to the outside of the aquarium layer and then add the terrarium layer to the top of it and tape it on as well. The last step is to tape the bottom part of the bottle back on. There you have it, hope you have as much fun with it as we did!!