NatureThe ProfessorBeginner
Build Your Own Tiny World course icon

Build Your Own Tiny World

Like Duolingo, but for Build Your Own Tiny World. Tomo turns the whole topic into a game you play five minutes a day, until it actually sticks.

For the part of you with thirty open tabs that never became anything.

54 bite-size levelsAbout 5 minutes each

Free forever · No credit card · iPhone & Android

Terry the Toad
Build Your Own Tiny World
with Terry the Toad
54
Levels
4
Sections
5
Min/day
What you'll learn

Key ideas in Build Your Own Tiny World

  • Closed containers trap moisture and create a self-sustaining water cycle
  • Tropical plants like ferns thrive in high-humidity environments
  • Smaller openings restrict evaporation and air exchange
  • Wider openings allow moisture to escape and fresh air to enter
  • Choosing the right container based on plant humidity needs
  • Mapping container opening size to internal climate conditions
  • Clear glass allows the full spectrum of light needed for photosynthesis
  • Narrow-necked jars trap significant moisture
  • Tinted or textured glass blocks essential light and can starve the plants
  • Succulents rot in high-humidity, low-airflow environments
  • Identifying the best glass quality for plant light absorption
  • Identifying signs that a container is trapping too much or too little moisture for a specific plant type
  • A complete seal prevents all moisture loss
  • The ratio of the opening to the volume of the container determines the rate of drying
  • Ranking containers from highest to lowest humidity retention
  • Standing water in soil prevents oxygen from reaching roots
Why not just Google it

You've tried the other tabs

Wikipedia

Thirty open tabs. Four facts you actually kept.

YouTube

You watched. You nodded. By Sunday it was gone.

ChatGPT

One answer, then back to scrolling.

Online courses

Eight weeks. You meant to finish. You didn't.

Tomo gives Build Your Own Tiny World the Duolingo treatment: levels, streaks, and quick quizzes that test what you just learned. That game loop is what the tabs above never had, so it's the one you actually finish.

Try a question

Here's what playing it feels like

A real question from this course. Take your best guess.

Glass Jars and Tropical Climates

Which type of plant is best suited for the misty, damp air inside a sealed jar?

Get it right to open this lesson and 53 more in the app.

Course map

Where Build Your Own Tiny World takes you

Learn to design and maintain a thriving miniature ecosystem inside glass. From choosing the right plants to keeping them alive for years, you will master the art of the terrarium.

  1. 1

    Make Your First Jar Garden

    • Choosing the Right Glass Container
    • The Secret Layers of Soil
    • Planting Without Making a Mess
    • Your First Watering Session
  2. 2

    Keep Your Plants Happy and Healthy

    • Finding the Perfect Light Spot
    • Reading the Fog on the Glass
    • When and How to Prune
    • Cleaning the Inside of the Jar
    • Spotting Early Signs of Trouble
    • Dealing with Unwanted Mold
  3. 3

    Design Like a Pro

    • Creating Hills and Valleys
    • Using Rocks and Wood for Scale
    • Picking Plants That Play Well Together
  4. 4

    The Science of the Ecosystem

    • How the Water Cycle Works Inside
    • The Role of Tiny Beneficial Bugs
    • Why Some Plants Love Humidity
    • The History of the Wardian Case
    • Open vs. Closed Systems

4 sections · 18 units · 54 levels. Built to play, not to enroll.

How it's taught

You pick the voice

This course
The Professor

Build Your Own Tiny World is taught in the The Professor style: clear, structured, thorough. Want a different feel? In the app you can spin up the same topic in any of Tomo's teaching styles. Same facts, totally different vibe.

Start free

Start Build Your Own Tiny World today.

Download Tomo, search Build Your Own Tiny World, and play your first lesson in under a minute.