Lab report design: animal behavior

By: Cheng Teck Lee

September 11, 2014
Research question
hich room ! a completely dark room or a bright room ! "ill attract termites in the
choice chamber#
Background information
$nimal behavior is an area o% st&dy to investigate the behavior o% animals, also
kno"n as ethology' This involves the animal anatomy, physiology, ne&robiology, and
their phylogenetic history' There are t"o e(amples o% behavior: innate behavior and
learned behavior' )nnate behavior, or instinct, is "hen one is born "ith the
propensity to display that partic&lar behavior* learned behavior is the re+ection o%
conditions that is e(perienced by individ&als d&ring development' These assist an
animal,s s&rvival in its environment' This e(periment is to investigate the sensitivity
o% termites to the brightness o% the room'
Hypothesis
termites "ill be attracted to the dark' They stay a"ay %rom the light to avoid
predator-s., and they are sensitive to bright light' /oreover, &s&sally the %emale
termite 0nd a b&rro" to lay her eggs to start a colony o% termites &ndergro&nd, th&s
making the o1spring adapt to the dark &ndergro&nd environment'
Independent variable How Why
Light intensity 2ave one dark room on
one side o% the center
room, and one bright room
on the other side
This "ill help termites
di1erentiate the rooms,
light intensity
Dependent variable How Why
Termites 30 termites in total ! 10
per trial, in a total o% 3
trials
Less than 10 termites "ill
lead to di4c&lty to
determine "hich room
they intend to be at
$t the end o% each trial,
close the path"ays by
&sing a solid thin material
to insert the slot o% the
path"ay bet"een the
center room and the room
"ith the speci0c light
intensity to determine
"hich room the termites
are attracted to
Controlled variable How Why
Si5e o% the room The vol&me o% the room
"ill be 60cm by 60cm by
20cm
7ach chamber sho&ld be
relatively big to easily
co&nt the n&mber o%
termites in each o% the
room
Temperat&re 7(periment sho&ld take
place at room temperat&re
)t is neither hot nor cold,
other"ise either "ill a1ect
the kinesis o% termites,
similar to temperat&re
a1ecting en5yme activity
2&midity Set h&midity bet"een 408
309
Lo"er h&midity co&ld
ca&se dehydration to
termites, th&s killing them,
and impacting the
e(periment
:istance bet"een center
room and respective light8
intensity rooms
:istance bet"een center
room and respective
rooms is 10cm each
)nacc&racy o% the distance
"ill lead to "rong res&lt
considering that the
termites might go to the
room "here the distance
is short
Time /onitored every 13
min&tes, in d&ration o% 1
ho&r
:i1erent time length
d&ring monitoring termite
behavior "ill ca&se
inacc&rate data d&e to
termites having relatively
high rate o% movement as
time progresses
pparatus
Stop"atch
;lastic t&nnel -the top acts like a door, to open %or p&tting termites in and
e(tracting them., "ith t"o plastic chambers -60 ( 60 ( 20. -one o% them "ith
a roo%top %or lamp, both chambers are non8transl&cent and non8transparent.
attached to each o% the t&nnel,s end, creating a path"ay
T"o di1erent hidden cameras -one normal camera %or bright room, and one
heat vision camera in dark room.
30 termites -10 per trial, in total o% 3 trials.
Lamp
3 bo(es "ith covers
!rocedure
Collect 30 termites, p&t 10 termites on each bo( %or trials, and cover the
bo(es to prevent termites %rom escaping
;repare the c&stom made plastic t&nnel "ith chambers on each side
;&t the lamp on top o% the chamber that comes "ith transparent<transl&cent
roo%top
prepare the hidden cameras in each chamber, make s&re they are recording
be%ore inserting termites' The cameras are connected to a comp&ter,
recording the ta(is and kinesis o% termites
;&t 10 termites into center room
=ecord the n&mber o% termites in the rooms -and the t&nnel as "ell. every 13
min&tes &ntil one ho&r
$%ter one ho&r, insert solid thin material to close the path"ays and e(tract
termites
=epeat e(periment another 4 times to get more acc&rate data
Table sho"ing n&mber o% ants in each o% the t"o rooms every 13 min&tes &ntil one
ho&r
Type o%
chamber
>&mber o% ants in di1erent rooms every 13 min&tes $verage
n&mber o%
ants
13 min&tes 60 min&tes 43 min&tes ?0 min&tes
Completely
dark
chamber
Bright
chamber
@raph: line graph o% n&mber o% termites every 13 min&tes