Understand niches, biotic/abiotic factors, and species interactions.

• Create and manipulate a microbial ecosystem
• Investigate competition and test Gause's law
• Explore how different species respond to stress and environmental change
• Experiment requires one week to complete

In this experiment students create their own microbial ecosystems and investigate the dynamics of competition and abiotic or biotic change on community composition. By using bacteria with short generation times students can observe, test, and collect their own data on key ecological phenomena in a week.

Additional items needed but not included: Micropipettes, incubator, centrifuge, marking pens, Bunsen burner, hot plate or microwave, and hot gloves.