Pill Bug Lab Report Essay
Introduction
These species are commonly known as pill bugs; they are terrestrial crustaceans that are oval shaped and a little flat. Pill bugs live in gardens, fields, forests or any region that is moist and are most likely found under rocks. The reason behind as to why isopods prefer a moist area is because they don’t have a good waterproofing cuticle wax, which causes them to dry out easily (“Critter Catalog," n.d., para. 8). Pill bugs are also known as “roly-polies” because of their ability to roll up into a ball.
Isopods are also ferocious scavengers that are most likely to eat anything such as decaying plants and animal material. They also navigate towards a surround that they recognize. If a pill bug is placed between a moist and dry environment we predict that they will chose the …show more content…
moist because of its natural habitat. If it was placed between a dry and sugar we predict that it will gravitate towards the sweet and if it were placed in a wet and sweet environment we predicted that It would go towards the sweet. The purpose of this experiment was to determine which environment would an isopod prefer more. In which we conducted three trials to see which surrounding was more desired.
Materials and Methods
To start conducting these trials for the experiment we used a choice tube. The first trial that was conducted was our negative control it was “dry and dry.” We had put two dry Q-tips on either side of the tube. The second trial was the “water and dry” which was a positive control. On either sides of the tube we put two Q-tips. We had added .5mL of water on to the right Q-tip and the dry would be on the left. For the third trial we used the same choice tube and this time it would be “glucose and dry”, this would also be a positive control. We added 1mL of glucose on the left side of the Q-tip and the dry on the right. For the last trial we did “Glucose and water” this is what we were testing for. We wanted to know what would the isopod desire more a sweet or a wet environment? For this we put 1mL of the left side Q-tip and .5mL of water on the right. We had used forty isopods in total throughout this whole experiment. For each trial we used ten isopods. Within each trial we would observe to see which surrounding the isopod chose and how long it would take them to get there.
Results
When we conducted our experiment we thought our hypothesis was going to be correct. For the first three trials we were but for the last one we were not, which was the main purpose of this experiment. For the first part of the trial which was the “dry and dry” we expected to get 50/50 as we don’t think isopods really have a main direction, that is the result we got as you can see in figure 1 below.
For the second trial we tested “Dry and Wet” and we predicted that the isopods would definitely gravitate towards the wet environment because of their natural habitat and how they prefer a moist area to a dry one. As you can see in figure 2 below we got the same results as we predicted. 80% of the isopods went towards the right to the wet environment and 20% went to the dry environment, which shows that there is a preference of a moist environment. For the third and fourth trial our experiment we tested to see if the isopods prefer “Glucose or Dry” and we predicted it would choose glucose.
For the fourth trail we looked to see which one would the isopods choose “ Glucose or water” and we predicted it would choose glucose again.
For the third trial we were correct as 80 percent of the isopods went towards the glucose and 20 percent went to dry. Though we were wrong for the fourth trial. Only 40 percent of the isopods went towards the glucose and 60 percent went towards the water. This shows that the isopods prefer a moist area than a sweet one. Therefore, our hypothesis was incorrect.
Discussion For future references what we could do to improve out methods of conducting this experiment is after each trial we should clean the choice tube to make sure there is no residue, which can cause miscalculations. Though the whole experiment we used different sizes of isopods. Maybe next time we can stick to one size throughout the whole experiment or we could do these trials by size. Preform the same trial a few times using different of pill bugs and see if the size of the pill bugs has anything to do with their
preference.
Conclusion
After the experiment we concluded that the pill bugs did not prefer Glucose. Our hypothesis was incorrect. This could be because sugar is not found in their diet. I thought that the rotting food might consist of sugar. They might contain little to no sugar at all in their diets. For the fact that they are unfamiliar with this they might be hesitant to go towards it.
Reference:
1. "Critter Catalog." BioKIDS. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Nov. 2015.
These species are commonly known as pill bugs; they are terrestrial crustaceans that are oval shaped and a little flat. Pill bugs live in gardens, fields, forests or any region that is moist and are most likely found under rocks. The reason behind as to why isopods prefer a moist area is because they don’t have a good waterproofing cuticle wax, which causes them to dry out easily (“Critter Catalog," n.d., para. 8). Pill bugs are also known as “roly-polies” because of their ability to roll up into a ball.
Isopods are also ferocious scavengers that are most likely to eat anything such as decaying plants and animal material. They also navigate towards a surround that they recognize. If a pill bug is placed between a moist and dry environment we predict that they will chose the …show more content…
moist because of its natural habitat. If it was placed between a dry and sugar we predict that it will gravitate towards the sweet and if it were placed in a wet and sweet environment we predicted that It would go towards the sweet. The purpose of this experiment was to determine which environment would an isopod prefer more. In which we conducted three trials to see which surrounding was more desired.
Materials and Methods
To start conducting these trials for the experiment we used a choice tube. The first trial that was conducted was our negative control it was “dry and dry.” We had put two dry Q-tips on either side of the tube. The second trial was the “water and dry” which was a positive control. On either sides of the tube we put two Q-tips. We had added .5mL of water on to the right Q-tip and the dry would be on the left. For the third trial we used the same choice tube and this time it would be “glucose and dry”, this would also be a positive control. We added 1mL of glucose on the left side of the Q-tip and the dry on the right. For the last trial we did “Glucose and water” this is what we were testing for. We wanted to know what would the isopod desire more a sweet or a wet environment? For this we put 1mL of the left side Q-tip and .5mL of water on the right. We had used forty isopods in total throughout this whole experiment. For each trial we used ten isopods. Within each trial we would observe to see which surrounding the isopod chose and how long it would take them to get there.
Results
When we conducted our experiment we thought our hypothesis was going to be correct. For the first three trials we were but for the last one we were not, which was the main purpose of this experiment. For the first part of the trial which was the “dry and dry” we expected to get 50/50 as we don’t think isopods really have a main direction, that is the result we got as you can see in figure 1 below.
For the second trial we tested “Dry and Wet” and we predicted that the isopods would definitely gravitate towards the wet environment because of their natural habitat and how they prefer a moist area to a dry one. As you can see in figure 2 below we got the same results as we predicted. 80% of the isopods went towards the right to the wet environment and 20% went to the dry environment, which shows that there is a preference of a moist environment. For the third and fourth trial our experiment we tested to see if the isopods prefer “Glucose or Dry” and we predicted it would choose glucose.
For the fourth trail we looked to see which one would the isopods choose “ Glucose or water” and we predicted it would choose glucose again.
For the third trial we were correct as 80 percent of the isopods went towards the glucose and 20 percent went to dry. Though we were wrong for the fourth trial. Only 40 percent of the isopods went towards the glucose and 60 percent went towards the water. This shows that the isopods prefer a moist area than a sweet one. Therefore, our hypothesis was incorrect.
Discussion For future references what we could do to improve out methods of conducting this experiment is after each trial we should clean the choice tube to make sure there is no residue, which can cause miscalculations. Though the whole experiment we used different sizes of isopods. Maybe next time we can stick to one size throughout the whole experiment or we could do these trials by size. Preform the same trial a few times using different of pill bugs and see if the size of the pill bugs has anything to do with their
preference.
Conclusion
After the experiment we concluded that the pill bugs did not prefer Glucose. Our hypothesis was incorrect. This could be because sugar is not found in their diet. I thought that the rotting food might consist of sugar. They might contain little to no sugar at all in their diets. For the fact that they are unfamiliar with this they might be hesitant to go towards it.
Reference:
1. "Critter Catalog." BioKIDS. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Nov. 2015.