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Experiment
A Warm or A Cool
Environment
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Problem: Do mealworms (or
earthworms or pillbugs or snails) prefer environments that are hot, warm,
cool or cold?
Research: Look up information
about the animal that you choose (pick only one type). Your background
research should explain what type of animal they are, what they look like
and where they live.
Hypothesis: Predict which
temperature most of the mealworms (or earthworms or snails) will
choose.
I think that most mealworms will choose
a ______________ environment.
Setting Up the Experiment:
Materials:
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20 mealworms (or 20 earthworms, 20 snails or 20
pillbugs)
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covered terrarium or large plastic container
with a lid (make a lot of small holes in the lid so the animals can get
air)
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aluminum foil
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permanent marker
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hot water
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ice water
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two containers
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chart to record your results
Procedure:
Manipulated Variable: Temperature
of the environment (This is the only thing you can change.)
Responding Variable: The number
of mealworms that choose to be in each temperature (these are the results
that you will count)
Steps:
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Set up the terrarium and place the animals
inside while you set up the rest of the experiment.
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Tear off a sheet of aluminum foil, about 1
meter long. Fold it in half lengthwise so that it is a long narrow rectangle.
Now fold up the edges on all four sides so that the animals won't fall
off or climb over. It should look like a long, narrow tray.
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Use the marker and draw lines to divide the
tray into 4 sections. Mark the sections hot, warm, cool, cold.
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Fill one container with very hot water (ask
an adult to help you).
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Fill the other container with ice water.
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Put both containers on the table and put the
aluminum foil tray on top. One edge of the tray should be over the hot
water and the other edge should be over the ice water. If the middle of
the tray sags too much, you may need to put an empty container or a book
under it.
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Place all 20 animals on the tray. Watch them
as they move around for about 5 minutes.
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After 5 minutes, record the number of animals
in each section.
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Do the test 5 times and record your
results on the chart. Add the columns for each temperature.
Results:
Make a chart like this to record your
results. Then you can graph the totals on a bar graph.
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Trial
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# of animals in HOT environment
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# of animals in WARM environment
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# of animals in COOL environment
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# of animals in COLD environment
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1
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2
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3
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4
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5
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Total
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Conclusion:
Look over your results. What did you find
out? Did most of the animals prefer one temperature? Write your conclusion
and answer the problem. Tell if your hypothesis was correct or incorrect.
