I know teachers aren’t supposed to have pets, but what about students? If you read my blog for any length of time, you know that I believe learning should be real. I love the idea of having a classroom pet, and initially thought that’s what I might use BioBubble for. Then I realized, there are learning opportunities here.
It was easy to set up. My daughter and I spent some of our summer break unpacking the box and filling the bubble up to test it out. It holds about 3 gallons of water, so it’s still easy enough to move once it’s full. You know, for those glitter spill emergencies where you need to move things aside to sweep up. 
My favorite part is that little light that goes in the top. The kit came with a few different color bulbs to switch out. There is something relaxing about having a fish tank glow while the lights are dimmed. It’s also really nice that when you want to clean it, you can keep the water and fish in it, pop it up, and wipe out the dome. Sooooooo, what can BioBubble mean in the classroom? Here are five ways I think it turn into a great learning experiencde for kids.
1.) Design a habitat. Present the BioBubble to your class and encourage kids to design the ultimate habitat. Kids could explore what the ecosystem would need to sustain itself. The class could select the favorite plan and create the habitat. Throughout the year, kids could journal about changes they are seeing take place.
2.) Build community. It might sound simple, but the shared experience of kids caring for a fish or water frog will encourage them to care more for each other to. It’s not the teacher’s fish, nor the school’s fish, it’s “our fish” and it belongs to everyone in the classroom.
3.) Fostering a love for the planet. We all know that taking care of our planet is essential. Since the BioBubble can contain frogs, turtles, or a variety of fish, it could be a start for building kids curiosity about nature. Maybe it’s the start to exploring local ecosystems in your community, observing and comparing the BioBubble habitat with pond life.
4.) Blog about it. What if your students had a blog that they wrote about the BioBubble. A ‘Scientist of the Week’ could investigate what’s happening in the habitat and write about changes. Students could take turns writing creative stories from the creature’s point of view. Water plants could be grown in the BioBubble to t
rack and compare their growth to land based plants. The blog will allow students to share the progress with the world, an audience with meaning.
5.) Explore food chains. The BioBubble could be a great way to explore how organisms in an ecosystem rely on each other. Through an exploration of setting up the BioBubble, student discovery of how the bubble will sustain itself over time. Depending on the creature you place in the bubble, the study could get as extensive as needed.
While I’ve only set up the BioBubble in my home, I can’t wait to place it on my desk and ask kids what kind of habitat they want to build.
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