An experiment to determine a mealworms preference in temperature

Haley Ervin November 14, 2012 Period 7 Life Science

Introduction to Research Later in the week, table 5 in life science class will conduct an experiment to determine whether mealworms prefer hot or cold temperatures. We will create a hot environment and a cold environment and see which one the mealworms are attracted to the most. Hypothesis If we test mealworms then they will prefer the warmer temperature. I predict this because mealworms eat a lot and plants grow better in warmer climates. It is also easier to grow grains, what the mealworms especially like to eat. I also think the warm soil would be better for the mealworms to survive in.

Materials 1.Two paper towels 2.One Bag of Ice 3.One microwave 4.One mealworm 5.One Timer

Procedures 1.Place worm on icy paper towel 2.Time how long it takes for the worm to get off the cold icy paper towel 3.Microwave the other paper towel 4.Open microwave and leave paper towel in 5.Place worm on hot paper towel 6.Time how long it takes the worm to get off paper towel Illustration of setup

Mealworms Preference of Temperature

Trials 1 2 Average

Warm 15.8s 3s 9.4s

Cold 30.1s 68.3s 49.2s

Trial 1 70

Trial 2

Average

52.5

35

17.5

0 Warm Cold

Summary Once we received our mealworm, we wet a paper towel and put it over ice, we placed the worm on the cold paper towel and timed to see how long it would stay on the paper towel. We did the same thing with the warm paper towel by heating it in the microwave. We timed the worm to see how long it took to get off the warmth. As you can see in the

graph and table, our worm spent much less time on the warm paper towel therefore, the mealworm preferred the cold. Conclusion The purpose of this experiment was to learn more about behavioral adaptations. Our test was to see whether mealworms prefer hot or cold temperatures. We placed them on a cold paper towel and a hot paper towel and kept track of the time they spent on each environment. I predicted that mealworms would prefer the warmer environment. We found that the mealworms spent much more time on the cold paper towel than the hot one. My hypothesis was wrong I predicted that it would take longer for them to leave the warmth. Because they spent more time on the cold paper towel, I believe that we learned they prefer that cold environment to the warmer one. Something that couldve gone wrong in this experiment is that if the worms didnt move at all on the paper towels

and then we wouldnt be able to tell which one they liked best because they didnt bother leaving either temperature. If we were to do this experiment again the rst thing I would do differently is to do more trials. Another thing I would change is the wetness of the cold paper towel, I would nd a way to make it cold while keeping it dry. I would also nd a way to regulate the temperature, so that in each trial the temperature was the same for each environment. Something we could do for further research is to see if they like wet or dry of the same temperature to see if that has any effect on the temperature they like better. We researched behavioral adaptations. Some behavioral adaptations in mealworms could be the same as in other larger creatures that we are more involved with. Knowing these adaptations tell us something about how they survive, and if we wanted to, how to kill them.