Decomposing Ecosystem and Carbon PTOE

Can you name the element that is most important to sustaining life? Did you answer carbon or oxygen? Most people answer oxygen. Yes, many living things depend on oxygen to survive, but, carbon is in fact, more fundamental to the sustenance of life. Actually carbon IS life, since every living thing contains carbon, the term organic refers to certain varieties of carbon present in all life-forms.

We are having a blast learning about carbon, it's an element that we can really connect with since there is so much of it in our natural world around us! This week we focused on my favorite subject involving carbon....decomposition (of plants, it's hard for me to stomach animal decomposition, if interested google "decomposition" and you will get all kinds of crazy stuff involving pigs). Carbon dioxide is released into the air when cellular respiration takes place through the action of decomposers (bacteria and fungi). Detritivores (woodlice, worms, millipedes, slugs and other little creatures that you'll find munching on dead trees and leaf litter) are often referred to as decomposers because they help with the break down. The detritivores and other living animals' waste products are eaten by the bacteria and fungi, which in turn releases carbon dioxide.

Hunting for Decomposing Matter

Take a hike in the woods and look for decomposing matter and the life forms that help in the decomposing process.

Stop and investigate a decomposing log....look for those little creatures (the detritivores) that help with the breakdown of the log. A whole amazing micro-community of creatures live right there. These creatures are helping with the chemical breakdown of the log, and leave waste products that put carbon dioxide in the air! How many living creatures can you find? Here is what we found on our decomposing adventure. A beetle working very hard and munching away.....

A very chubby slug living in the leaves under the log (leaf rot is another great place to learn about decomposition).

Woodlice love the moist envrionment of decomposing leaves and trees. Did you know that woodlice have gills?

Earthworms help break down all the organic matter that falls onto the forest floor.

A spider found a cozy spot to spin a web and help with the break down of the log.

Photo taken by my sister Robin.

A very pretty decomposing tree with holes and trails left by worms and beetles. This would make great rubbings to place in a nature journal. Don't forget those nature journals whenever you visit the woods, nature journals are the ideal place to record your findings.

Speaking of waste products, here is some scat left behind from a deer. As the bacteria causes the waste to decompose, carbon dioxide is released into the air.

Don't forget those decomposing animals. Fauna found part of a raccoon jaw, the tail was close by, but I will spare you that photo.

Here, we have the master decomposers, the primary decomposers, members of the bacteria and fungi families. They extract the energy contained in the chemical bonds of the decomposing organic matter and realease carbon dioxide into the air.

Be sure to make time to climb and balance on these carbon dioxide contributors!

Set up a Decomposing Ecosystem

The ecosystems where heat and moisture are generated are the best at producing carbon dioxide through decomposition. The decomposing process in dry, cold climates are much slower. You can easily make a warm and moist decomposing ecosystem in your own home to observe over time. This is a great way to see first hand how the decomposition process works.

For this ecosystem we used an old fish tank. We layered (in order) rocks, sand, charcoal, soil from the yard, and leaf litter into the tank. Then we added a wet decomposing log, moss, fungi, pinecones and whatever else the little ladies wanted to contribute to our decomposing ecosystem. Please don't collect too much and you must treat this ecosystem like a living breathing pet, many little creatures will be added to this ecosystem without their permission or your knowledge even. You must be sure to keep the ecosystem moist, the little critters will contribute to the decomposition and multiply if you're taking good care of them, they will die if you don't. (Ha, does the drama get my point across)?

Add a few splashes of water, make sure your ecosystem is moist, but not too wet, you don't want to see standing water at the bottom of the tank.

I added some plastic wrap to the top of our decomposing ecosystem to hold in the humidity and moisture. Place it in a window with indirect sunlight or you can keep it outside, but don't forget about it. Our ecosystem gets some morning sun and look what we woke up to....probably a tad too much sun, only one side of the terrarium shoould have this much condensation! We ended up taking it off the front porch and bringing it inside, the condensation quickly decreased.

Araina admiring our new ecosystem this morning! She saw many little detritivores working about- millipedes, woodlice, beetles and slugs.


I recommend taking a lot of photos of the decomposing ecosystem over time and note how it changes.

I don't think we are done with carbon yet, we are having way too much fun and learning so much! Want more carbon fun? Try the moss terarrium. More PTOE fun? Try the riddles, sulphur and gold activities.