6^th Grade Biosphere Project

Project Description

^th

Purpose of the project: To demonstrate what sort of environment would be necessary if humans ever decide to colonize the solar system. The second purpose of the biosphere project is to gain an appreciation of the delicate balance of our own biosphere here on Earth.

What is an artificial biosphere? An artificial biosphere is a structure designed to sustain life in an area that normally would not support life. Examples of places where a biosphere might be built include the moon, other moons of the solar system, and planets such as Mars. An artificial biosphere should have different zones that represent different parts of an ecosystem. Some of these zones may include a rainforest, grasslands (farmland), desert, ocean or water area, and mountain, zones. In addition this artificial biosphere should have a human zone for living quarters as well as a working area. The human areas should only take up a small amount of space, while the rainforest area should take up a larger amount of space.

Duedate: TBA

Grade Breakdown:

Construction 50points. Points are given for how well the biosphere is constructed as well as its ability to no fall apart during the oral presentation. Anything may be used to construct the biosphere as long as it is not a store bought kit and does not exceed one meter in length and width. Parents may help but may not build the entire project for their children.

Decoration 20points. 20 points will be given to biospheres that look like a biosphere and show thought and originality. Points will be deducted if your biosphere is messy, looks like it was decorated last minute, or is hard to distinguish one zone from another.

Biosphere Zones 20points. 20 points will be given to biospheres that have at least 4 different life zones. Points will be deducted if a biosphere has less than 4 life zones, or if the human zone is bigger than a life zone.

Blueprints 20 points. Blueprints need to show metric measurements of top/side views of a biosphere. All aspects of the biosphere must be labeled and measured in metric to receive the full 20 points. Points will be deducted if blueprints are messy, or if measurements do not match the actual biosphere.

Written portion 20points: Teams need to write 2-5 pages on what biospheres and the history of artificial biospheres and why one would be needed to live on another planet or moon. The written portion should include concepts already learned on the biosphere and other life zones and why they are important. A bibliography of at least one source needs to be included as well as three pictures, graphs or diagrams.

Sample Biospheres:

Biosphere Links
Biosphere link 1
Biosphere link 2