Pill Bug Behavior Lab Report

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Lab Write-Up By Daniel Nunez 9/9/13 Title of lab: Pill bug behavior lab Background knowledge: Ethology is the study of animal behavior. Behavior is an animal’s response to sensory input and falls into two basic categories learned and innate (inherited) Problem statement/question: What will happen when pill bugs are placed in an area with one side wet and the other side completely dry? Hypothesis: The pill bugs will move towards the dry side. Test variable: The amount of bugs on each side. Outcome variable: The amount of pill bugs in each side. Constants: The amount of pill bugs in the area Control group: None. Materials: Isopods, paper towels, and choice chambers. Safety: Don’t let the bugs out of the choice chambers or on any…show more content…
Our major finding was that the bugs prefer the dry side over the wet side. Our results support the hypothesis. Pill bugs prefer land that is dark and dry. So when they get thirsty they move to the wet side to get a drink then head back to the dry side. Then they stay there until they become thirsty again. A couple of errors may have been that we had not used that many pill bugs. In my investigation we only used about 4 pill bugs witch may not be enough to know for sure. If my conclusion is right however, then the only explanation I have is that the pill bugs used kinesis. This is a random turning point or movement of an animal in relation to stimulus. For example, an organism responds to bright light by moving away. In this case the bill bug responds to the wet paper towel by moving away from it and going to a terrain where it is feels safe. If anybody is thinking about trying this experiment I have a few recommendations for them. I suggest using more pill bugs than we used maybe use around 10 pill bugs to come up with more accurate data. This information could be useful to society by understanding why some insects run away when we gently touch them. Or when you drop water on them they immediately go in the other

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