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Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History
Two biocubes - one made from aluminum tubes painted green, the other made out of rolled up magazines.

Biocube at Home

A World in One Cubic Foot: Discover the Nature that Surrounds You

Introduction

There is a lot of life just outside our door that we never see - in the grass, under rocks, hidden bushes or in the water. Exploring this hidden life or biodiversity is a fantastic way to connect with the natural world while practicing scientific thinking and science skills. One way to do this is to use a Biocube, which allows one to look for the biodiversity in a cubic foot of space. In this activity, explorers build a Biocube out of household items, then use it to investigate nature in a small area just outside their home.

This activity is intended to be done by individuals or family groups while at home. It is modified from Biocubes - Exploring Biodiversity project that has been done by school and youth groups across the U.S. Please watch Biocubes: A World in One Cubic Foot  to get started.

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Or download and print these guides (Word documents):

Activity at a Glance for Teachers and Caregivers

Learning Goals

  • Get outside to connect with nature
  • Observe and document the biodiversity that lives near you by looking for hidden life in a cubic foot of space.
  • Develop science skills, such as making observations, sorting and identifying plants and animals, recording data, drawing conclusions, and creative problem solving.

Time & Resources

The length of time it takes to complete the investigation and the supplies you need are very adaptable depending on interest, time, age, and availability of household items. The investigation can be done all at once, or spread out over a couple of days. Below are recommended times and supplies for each step.

Step 1: Build a Biocube

Three homemade biocubes: One made from magic markers taped together in the shape of one cubic foot; another made from rolled up magazines; and another made from coat hangers.
Homemade biocubes made from magic markers, magazines, and coat hangers. Photos by Lara Noren, Smithsonian.

Explorers find household items to build a 12-inch cubic frame that they will place outside to determine where they will collect plants and animals.

Time: 20-30 minutes
Supplies: 

  • Recording Sheet or paper 
  • Pencil
  • Biocube sides = approximately 12, 12-inch-long thin pieces of sturdy material such as aluminum tubes, pencils, PVC, stiff wire, or other creative solution. (See examples in image above.)
  • Biocube corners = fasteners such as wire, tape, glue, clay, or other creative solution
  • Optional: Watch Video: Building a Biocube
  • Optional: Recording Sheet (Word document)

Step 2: Select Your Space and Place your Biocube

Three types of homemade biocubes placed in a yard -- one in a bed of plants, the other two over single plants.
Photos by Lara Noren, Smithsonian.

Explorers look around their yard, sidewalk, parking lot, or other outdoor space outside their home to find where they want to place their Biocube. look for areas where they think they can find a lot of different plants and animals, then place their cube. This can be in a tree, halfway underground, on top of grass, at the edge of a stream, or other placement.

Time: 10-20 minutes
Supplies:

Step 3: Observe your Biocube

Children observing life inside a biocube and taking notes about what they see.
Image by David Liittschwager.

Explorers spend time observing the life in and around their Biocube sitting quietly from a distance. They then look around inside their Biocube to see what they find. Record observations on the Recording Sheet or own paper.

Time: 10 - 30 minutes
Supplies:

Step 4: Gather Your Collecting & Sorting Supplies

An ice cube tray with many of the sections holding items such as leaves, an acorn, insects, and soil. A Mason jar with a big leaf it it covers one side of the tray.
Photo by Lara Noren, Smithsonian.

Explorers look for household items that will help them remove their Biocube from its location and to sort all of the plants and animals that they find inside.

Time: 10 - 30 minutes
Supplies:

Step 5: Explore Your  Biocube

A student holds a small camera over a dish with an insect in it.
Image by David Liittschwager.

Explorers remove the contents of their Biocube so that they can sort through it looking for plants and animals.  They sort what they find by putting similar types of plants and animals together in a container that they can then count and identify.

Time: 30 - 120 minutes
Supplies:
●    Use the resources collected above.  Explorers may need to improvise and do some problem solving as they work. This is GREAT and an important part of science.
●    Depending on interest and age, explorers can identify what they found using general categories such as worm, beetle, grass, flower, or more specific identifications to genus or species name. Apps such as iNaturalist (https://www.inaturalist.org) and Seek (https://www.inaturalist.org/pages/seek_app) allow explorers to take a picture and have a community of experts help identify it. Other websites and books on species identification are another great resource.  If you have no access to identification guides, stick with the general categories.
●    Use the Recording Sheet or paper to record the plants and animals they find.
●    Optional: Phone or camera to take pictures.

Step 6: Share

Explorers name and count what they have found and share what they learn.

Time: 20 - 60 minutes
Supplies:
●    Paper and pencil

Explorer Directions

What type of nature is living just outside your home? Step outside and find out!

Your quest is to discover what types of plants and small animals are living near you using a Biocube. A Biocube is a cubic-foot-square frame that you can place anywhere you want to investigate – in a tree, on top of grass, halfway in water, you name it. You will collect, identify, and return the life that you find, getting a chance to investigate the question, "What kind of life can you find in one cubic foot of space?"

  1. Normally, Biocubes are built out of 12-inch aluminum tubes, but if you don’t have aluminum tubes, no problem. You can build a Biocube out of other materials, such as rulers, plastic knives, chopsticks, stiff wire, PVC, and more. Tape, wire, string, or other adhesive can help you secure the corners. Each side just needs to be about 12 inches.
  2. Be creative in engineering a solution. If you don’t have supplies to build a Biocube, don’t let that stop you!  You can just estimate a cubic foot using the edge of a piece of paper or ruler. 

Record: Describe what you used to build your Biocube. Make a sketch or take a picture of the Biocube if you can. 

  1. Explore an outdoor space where you live. This can be a bush along your sidewalk, a woodpile in your yard, your garden, lawn, some gravel and dirt near your parking lot, or other types of space.  
  2. This place should be one that you are curious about or where you think there is a lot of life. 

Record: Write a description of your selected space. Record information like time of day, temperature, weather, or any other information that helps describe the setting. What plants and animals do you see? Draw a picture if you can. 

  1. Spend about 5 minutes quietly observing your Biocube from a short distance away. Look for insects, birds, small mammals, or other animals that go near or in your Biocube.
  2. Spend another 5 minutes or so observing your Biocube up close. Gently look under plants or other cover to see what is living there.
  3. If you have a camera or smartphone, take a photo of your undisturbed Biocube.

Record: Write down the types of plants and animals that you find. Describe what they were doing (hiding, crawling, sleeping, etc.).

1. You are going to collect all of the life in your Biocube and sort it into different types of plants and animals. To do this, you need to find useful household items. 

  • Look for tools and containers such as a shovel, scoop, bucket, and/or net that can help you remove the Biocube. 
  • Look for smaller containers such as cups, jars, plates, ice cube trays, spoons, tweezers, and other items that help you remove and sort what you find. You may also need covers to keep animals in.

2. Be sure to seek permission to use the household items you collect. Have an adult help you with sharp tools. 

A. Collect your Biocube

  1. Now it’s time to see what is living inside your Biocube.
  2. Use the supplies you gathered to remove the Biocube from its location. This may mean getting a bit dirty!  
  3. It is important that you do not hurt any of the life you collect. You will return it to where you found it when you are done.  

B.  Sort your Biocube

  1. Look carefully through your Biocube to find as much life as possible. Look closely. Many of these animals are really small! If you have a magnifying glass, use it.
  2. Separate what you find into containers so that similar organisms are together. You can use general categories (for examples, “beetles” “ants”) or be more specific (for example, sort different types of beetles into different containers). Don’t forget about the plants! Look carefully to sort these as well.

C.  Document What You Find

  1. Count and identify the life in your Biocube. You can use online resources, you can take a picture and send it to iNaturalist (https://www.inaturalist.org) or Seek (https://www.inaturalist.org/pages/seek_app), or look for books that you may have at home. You can identify things generally like worm, beetle, grass, or try and find the genus and species name.
  2. If you have a phone or camera, take a picture of the different life you found.
  3. Optional: measure organisms, record their appearance/attributes, weigh biomass
  4. Write down what you find.
  5. When you are done, return all of the plants and animals, soil, rocks, dead wood, or other things back to where you found them.
  6. Be sure to clean and return all of the supplies you used. 

Record: Create a data table or lists to write down what you found, including how many of each type. 

Record: Summarize what you discovered. Select a couple of the prompts below and write a response:

  • What lives in your chosen spot?
  • What surprised you about what you discovered?  Why do you think you found certain types of plants and animals and not others? 
  • How do you think the life that you found compares to what you would find in a different location or at a different time of year?
  • What types of life do you think was in your Biocube that you did not find?  
  • Where would you want to look next? 
  • What do you want to know about some of the plants and animals that you found? Learn about the biodiversity nearby? Write down a couple of questions you are interested in and explain how you go about investigating them.

Additional Ideas