Jhalen Ascue, Tyler Myers, Christain Von Lehe Independent Variable: Color of Pen line (How many termites

follow) Dependent Variable: Termites, Paper, Amount of time given on track August 31, 2012

Abstract: The purpose of this experiment was to find out why the termites were following the red track. For the procedure we took 3 pieces of 8 x 11 white paper, draw 3 figure 8s (Red, Blue, Black) and see how many termites follow the track. The termites followed the red track the most (5 on all 3 trials). They followed the blue track somewhat consistently (3 on the 1st and 3rd trials, and 4 on trial 2). Lastly, the followed the Black track the least (2 termites on trials 1 and 2 and 1 termite on trial 3) From this we can conclude that the termites follow the red line more accumulatively because of their color.

Background: There are 3 types of termite: Drywood termites, Formosan Termites, and Subterranean Termites. We used Formosan termites to figure out why they were following the track. These usually are found in wet soil. They eat fabric made plants. They live in underground colonies and can also live in boats and buildings. The common perception of termites is that they are nasty little things that destroy your house and dont belong on this earth. Actually they help the world out in more ways than you can think. They eat the dead things in the earth because it makes space for new life to come in. Without these types of animals, we would be up to our necks in trash.

Hypothesis: My Group and I hypothesized that the termites followed the red track because of its color; we saw that its eyes were red and we figured that had something to do with it, and that they would only follow the red track, so we expected them only to follow the red track. We set up an experiment that tests the color of the track to see if thats why it followed the track.

Materials and Procedures: 3 pieces of 8 x 11 paper 1 red bic ball point pen 1 blue bic ball point pen 1 black bic ball pont pen Formosan termites 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Procedures Draw an infinity symbol on of the page with the red bic ball point pen Draw an infinity symbol on of the page with the blue bic ball point pen Draw an infinity symbol on of the page with the black bic ball point pen Release the Formosan termites on to the paper Record how many different termites follow the track within 30 sec.

Results: (Chart Below) The termites followed all of the tracks, but they followed the red track the most, we suspect that it was because of its color. We had 5 termites in total. Maybe the fact that we left to go to lunch had an impact in our lunch, but we are not sure.

Results Graph

2 Trial 3 5 3 2 Trial 2 5 4 2 Trial 1 5 3

Discussion: The termites followed the red line the most, the blue lines almost as much as the red line, and they followed the black line the least. One thing that we also noticed was that after a while the termites couldnt tell where the track was, almost as if it dried into the paper and they couldnt see it, which could have been because we went to lunch. Either that or they just got bored of following the track. The results support our hypothesis in that it was the color of the track that attracted the termites, because all 5 of the termites followed it every time. The fact that we went to lunch had a lot to do with the results, because we all know that they followed the track because of its smell. So next time we should not go to lunch to get fair results

Appendix:

Termite Experiment Red

Trail 1 Blue Black

Red

Trail 2 Blue

Black 2

Red 5

Trail 3 Blue 3

Black 1

# of termites followed in 30 sec.

5 3 2 5 4 (The termites followed the red line the most.)

The only reason I couldnt put this is results is because all margins have to be 1 inch.