Mealworms Lab Report

Abstract

In this experiment, the preferences of mealworms towards lighted and dark environments were tested. The main question posed was whether the behavior of the mealworms would be affected by the variable of light, and whether they would move towards or away from the light source (taxis). We placed ten mealworms into two adjoining containers and tried to simulate the effects of above ground and underground by exposing the mealworms to minimal amounts of light in one of the containers (underground), and placing the other container under a lamp (above ground). A beaker of water was utilized as a heat sink to prevent the variable of heat from tampering with the variable being tested. Twenty five-minute interval trials were conducted in total.
This experiment was conducted with two key biological principles in mind, taxis and kinesis. Taxis can be defined as a specific, directed motion in response to a stimulus, whereas kinesis is a random, undirected motion in response to a stimulus. The stimulus or independent variable in this experiment was light; we had two adjoining containers with one representing a lighted environment and the other one representing a dark environment. The dependent variable in this experiment was the behavior of the mealworms in response to the variable of light. The hypothesis was that the mealworms would have a tendency to move towards the dark environment away from the light source
Collect ten mealworms and divide the mealworms evenly between the two adjoining containers (5 mealworms in each container). Insert a barrier between the two adjoining containers to prevent the mealworms from moving over to the other container before you begin the experiment. Next, take a piece of thick paper and cover container one so that it will be shielded from the variable of light; this is the dark environment. Next, place a beaker of water that will serve as a heat sink in between container two and the lamp; container two is the lighted environment. To begin the trial, switch on the lamp and remove the barrier between the two containers. Start the timer and wait for five minutes. During the trial, record observations of the behavior and movement of mealworms. At the end of the trial, record how many mealworms are located in each container and then separate the mealworms evenly amongst the two containers and get ready to begin another trial. After each trial, switch container one and container two around so that no other unwanted factors or variables will cause the mealworms to favor one container over another. At the end of every five trials, change the water in the heat sink, clean the containers, and randomly select ten new mealworms to continue conducting the experiment with. Repeat the same procedures until twenty trials in total have been