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Education can learn from self-sustaining eco-systems
Self-sustaining spider-worts
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In 1960 David Latimer placed a small spiderwort plant in a 10-inch glass terrarium with some soil and water. He sealed the glass bottle and put it in a sunny corner of his house. The terrarium flourished.
He didn’t add any water until 1972, and it continues to thrive untouched to this day.
It’s 6ft from a window, so gets a bit of sunlight. It grows towards the light, so it gets turned round every so often, so it grows evenly. Otherwise, it’s the definition of low-maintenance. I’ve never pruned it; it just seems to have grown to the limits of the bottle.
The plant had created its ecosystem inside the terrarium, recycling oxygen and carbon dioxide. Photosynthesis generates moisture and oxygen. The humidity builds and drips back down on the plants. Leaves rot and produce carbon dioxide that the plants need for nutrition.
We are part of this natural world. We are not outside looking in. Our constructed systems — however clunky and dysfunctional inhabit the same natural space.
