Spielideen Englisch 06. Juli 2020 · AK

Ideas for games at home: The Bottle Garden

How does our ecosystem really work? Why is it raining? What do plants eat? The bottle garden is a great project to get to the bottom of these questions.

An idea from the FRÖBEL-Kindergarten and Family Center An St. Hildegard in Cologne.

How it works

On your next walk through the forest or park, simply collect natural materials such as stones, sticks, leaves, sand, earth and moss and you are ready to go. In the clean glass you fill a layer of stones, then a layer of sand, then earth and finally you put the moss or another resistant plant that likes a humid climate on top of it.

Finally, water the biotope. It is important to water the right amount, not too little and not too much: it should be well moistened but not drowned.

What can you observe?

The bottle garden is a closed ecosystem in which a continous cycle is created: the water evaporates after some time and then "rains" down on the plants again by fogging up the glass wall and running down. The photosynthesis of the plants creates oxygen in the glass. The dying leaves, which develop after some time, provide new nutrients.

A "bottle garden" can last for several months or even years, but it requires a sunny location.

Material:

  •  A clean glass
  • Stones
  • Sticks
  • Leafs
  • Sand
  • Earth
  • Moss or other resistant plants