Photo of the Day

Mr. Samson's Form VII IB Biology class adventured outside last week to collect decomposers.

As part of their Species, Communities and Ecosystems unit, our IB students are creating terrestrial mesocosms. For the non-science readers—that means they are building enclosed environments to observe their collected decomposers (decaying organisms) in relation to their abiotic environment. Students hope that this closed ecosystem will sustain itself for a long period of time. There are three main components needed to have a stable ecosystem:

• Energy availability - light from the sun provides energy for most communities
• Nutrient cycling - decomposers ensure constant recycling of nutrients within an environment (for example carbon and phosphorous
• Recycling of waste - certain bacteria can detoxify harmful waste byproducts

"Students loved going outside to explore the forests during class," shared Mr. Samson. They collected samples of rocks, soil, moss, small plants, fungi and decomposers by digging into dead flora such as the fallen birch tree as seen in the photo above. We can't wait to see the end result of their terrestrial mesocosms—stay tuned for a photo on our Instagram and Facebook Stories.

Want to learn more about International Baccalaureate (IB) at BCS? Read about it on our website.