Description
IB ESS Practical 1F: Mesocosm Design 
Turn abstract systems concepts into a living, observable model with this hands-on IB Environmental Systems and Societies mesocosm investigation.
Students design and construct a sealed mesocosm or terrarium, identify storages and flows of energy and matter, distinguish transfers from transformations, and monitor the system over a minimum two-week period. They record observations such as condensation, plant growth, plant condition, and decomposition, photograph the mesocosm at defined intervals, and revise their systems diagram based on what they observe.
The activity provides a concrete way to explore closed systems, energy and matter flows, storages, transfers, transformations, and Earth as an integrated system.
Assessment and Model Evaluation
Students use their observations to evaluate whether the mesocosm functions as a closed system and consider how effectively a sealed terrarium can model the Earth system. They must identify similarities and limitations and propose a modification that could make the model more representative of Earth’s real energy and matter cycles.
The activity includes a specialized rubric connected to IB ESS Internal Assessment Criterion D.
Important Ethical Guidance Included
The activity explicitly addresses safe and ethical classroom practice, including the prohibition on using animals in the mesocosm and the use of school-supplied or garden-center plants rather than collecting organisms from protected natural areas.
Digital download. No physical product will be shipped.
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