To remove a label cleanly, try filling the inside of the bottle with warm water to soften the glue before peeling, then remove any excess glue and label with lighter fuel, goo-gone, or a similar product.
**PARENTAL SUPERVISION REQUIRED** Cut the bottle in half with scissors, a knife, or simmilar instrument. This bottle was cut with a band saw to give an even cut without denting the bottle in.
**PARENTAL SUPERVISION REQUIRED** If you can't get the top to fit down into the bottom, roll it gently in a pan of hot water until the heat shrinks it in just a bit. Rolling helps to evenly distribute the shrinkage.
Ta-da!
Now fill the biome with whatever materials you want to try. This one is using small pebbles in the bottom to aid in water drainage.
You can use whatever kind of dirt/ sand/growing medium you'd like. You can dig it out of the back yard, use potting soil, or make your own mixture of sand, dirt, etc. Be sure to record exactly what you use and where it came from!
Select your plants! Choose wisely based on the kind of materials you already put in your biome. Think about how big your adult plant will be. Will it still fit in the bottle when fully grown? Also think about where you will keep your biome. Do the plants need full sun, partial shade, complete shade, etc?
Add water. Too little? Too much? You decide.
Replace the lid, and your bottle biome is complete!
After sitting in the sun for a bit, this biome has already started condensing on the lid. It will 'rain' soon inside!
Be sure to make observations about your biome, and write down what you see. Does it look like you have too much water? Too little? What is the temperature inside? How about the pH of the soil? Do all the plants inside continue to thrive, or are some getting too much or too little sun? There are many many many more factors you can observe than what are mentioned here. Pay attention to what is asked in the summary in the official rules.
