Today we decided that over Christmas break we would seal off our bio-dome and see if it survives again. We finally figured out what the mysterious plant growing underground was today!.. It was an onion!.. We came to this conclusion by getting a closer look at the sprouts barely coming out of the ground. We also took on another organism. One of our fellow classmates decided they no longer wanted Lilo, our fire bellied toad that we had in the beginning, so we put her along with some crickets into our bio-bubble. 

We opened our ecosystems today!!! All of our organisms survived! We found the fish under some bark in the water. The salamander we found burrowed under the bark. The toad was just sitting around as usual. We were so happy that we could actually see our animals alive and well, for the bean plants had made some sort of canopy and we couldn't really see inside. We changed out the fish's dirty water and gave her some fresh which she seemed to be thankful for. We also noticed that our animals looked like they were in better shape than the animals of our fellow classmates ecosystems. Also, before we opened the ecosystem today I saw little insects flying around on the inside. I think that maybe they are what the toad and salamander ate while it was sealed off.

Day 17-
Today we didn't do much. I wish the opening date would get here sooner. I miss opening the ecosystem and interacting with all the organisms inside.
Co2- .99%
Oxygen- 10.85%
Temperature- 72°F
Day 18-
Today we talked about photosynthesis and cellular respiration a little bit. We learned that photosynthesis is the opposite of cellular respiration. Our bean plants seem to be growing more.
Co2-.99%
Oxygen- 10.36%
Temperature- 68°F
Day 19-
Today we were absent, but we had our other partner record the data.
Co2- .99%
Oxygen- 10.41%
Temperature- 70°F
Day 20-
Today we noticed that our beans have grown magnificently! They are as tall as the roof of the bio-dome. We also noticed that we have some sort of plant growing under the dirt, it seems to be making its way slowly to the surface.
Co2- .99%
Oxygen- 10.26%
Temperature- 72°F

Today we noticed that the Co2 is a little bit lower and the Oxygen is a little higher than it was yesterday. We learned that Secondary Succession happened in our bio-bubble today, because we caused a human disturbance by clearing everything out and starting over. For it to be Primary Succession the ecosystem would have to have no dirt in it at all. There seems to be no crickets left in the bio-bubble as we can see. We think that the toad is eating plants along with the Salamander because they are still very active and seem to be growing every day.

Co2- .99%
Oxygen- 10.88%
Temperature- 70 degrees Fahrenheit

Today we estimated the beans height to be around 8-10 inches in height. Our oxygen and Co2 stayed about the same today. The Salamander stays in the water more often than he usually does here lately. The fish is still alive. The water cycle at work constantly. There seems to always be condensation on the top of the bio-bubble.

Co2- .99%
Oxygen- 10.65%
Temperature- 72 degrees Fahrenheit

Today we observed that about 20-30 more bean plants have sprouted. We measured our Co2 and Oxygen levels today as well. There is a lot of condensation on the roof of the bio-dome. Our bean plants range from barely poking out of the ground to over 6 inches in height. Our spider plant seems to be getting larger in size as well. I didn't see any crickets today either. Some limiting factors in our ecosystem include food, water, space, and population size. Our carrying capacity is one frog, one fish, one salamander, and many insects. The salamander seems to have burrowed again. The fish is as active as ever, and the toad is sitting around as normal having an occasional trip around the ecosystem.

Temperature- 72 degrees Fahrenheit
Co2- .99%
Oxygen- 10.66%

Today, we dumped about 40 crickets into our bio-bubble because the toad ate them all the last time we put crickets inside of the ecosystem. We also observed that many of the beans have sprouted and many more are growing. I planted about 20 more beans today as well. We sealed the vent on the top of the bio-bubble so that no outside air can get in.
    Abiotic Factors-
Light
Soil
Water
Temperature
Climate
    Biotic Factors-
Salamander
Toad
Plants
Fish
Worm
Bark
Crickets