Brenda Kim

Julia Hwang

PURPOSE:​ To observe the various behavioral traits of the

terrestrial isopod by conducting experiments examining the
response of isopods to various environmental factors.

EXPERIMENT 1
PURPOSE:​ The purpose of this lab is to determine the
environmental preferences of pill bugs based on the different
moisture levels of soil.
QUESTION:​ Which of the 5 different moisture levels completely
dry, wet dry, damp, muddy, and wet will the isopods prefer to be
in the most?
HYPOTHESIS:​ Pill bugs breathe with gills, so they are limited to
one humid or moist environments. Furthermore, the isopods will
move towards a moist environment.
a. Chamber 1 - 20
b. Chamber 2 - 30
c. Chamber 3 - 40
d. Chamber 4 - 50
e. Chamber 5 - 70

INDEPENDENT VARIABLE:​ amount of moisture in each

environment
DEPENDENT VARIABLE:​ environment pill bugs chose to move to
CONTROLLED VARIABLE:​ temperature/light/amount of dirt
MATERIALS:​ isopods, 5-way choice chamber, water, hair spray
bottle, timer, paintbrush, dirt, Q-tip, tape
PROCEDURE :
2. Prepare choice chamber with soil, making sure that each
chamber has equal amounts.
3. Fill hair spray with water.
4. Spray chambers accordingly.
a. Chamber 1 - completely dry
b. Chamber 2 - wet/dry - 3 spritz
c. Chamber 3 - damp - 6 spritz
d. Chamber 4 - muddy - 11 spritz
 e. Chamber 5 - wet - 18 spritz
5. Use a Q tip to clean around the connecting areas of the
chambers to prevent water from transferring into other
chambers.
6. Tape the openings of each chamber to prevent the pill bugs
from moving from their original placement prematurely.
7. Use a soft brush to transfer two pill bugs into each of the
five chambers.
8. Remove all of the tape.
9. Start timing.
10. Track how many bugs are in each chamber every 30 seconds
for 10 minutes
DATA/OBSERVATIONS:

Round 1:

SEC 1 dry 2 wet/dry 3 damp 4 muddy 5 wet

0 2 2 2 2 2

30 2 2 2 3 1

60 1 3 2 3 1

90 1 3 1 3 2

120 0 4 1 3 2

150 1 3 1 4 1

180 1 2 2 4 1

210 1 3 1 4 1

240 1 3 1 4 1

270 2 2 2 3 1

300 1 2 3 2 2

330 0 3 2 2 3

360 1 2 2 2 3

390 1 2 2 2 3
420 1 2 2 2 3

450 2 2 2 1 3

480 2 2 2 1 3

510 1 1 2 0 6

540 1 1 0 0 8

570 2 0 3 0 5

600 1 6 0 0 3

TOTAL 25 50 35 45 55

Round 2:

SEC 1 dry 2 wet/dry 3 damp 4 muddy 5 wet

0 2 2 2 2 2

30 3 2 2 2 1

60 1 3 1 2 3

90 1 4 1 2 2

120 1 3 2 0 4

150 3 2 1 0 4

180 4 1 1 0 4

210 2 1 2 1 4

240 2 2 1 1 4

270 1 2 3 0 4

300 2 0 3 0 5

330 1 1 3 1 4

360 1 1 3 1 4

390 1 0 5 0 4
420 0 1 5 0 4

450 0 0 6 0 4

480 1 2 6 0 1

510 1 2 6 0 1

540 0 2 6 1 1

570 4 1 3 2 0

600 3 2 4 0 1

TOTAL 34 34 66 15 61

ANALYSIS/CONCLUSION:​ The results of the first experiment show

that the pill bug distribution among the chambers are relatively
spread out evenly. By the end of the 10 minute period, wet
chamber 5 had the most number of pill bugs. The results were not
accurate enough to reject or accept the hypothesis. We realized
a mistake when trying to count all of the pill bugs every 30
seconds. There was too much soil added to the chambers and the
arthropods would burrow and hide. Having to take time brushing
off soil to count them most definitely influenced the results.
We decided to do a second round of experiment to ensure a more
accurate data. The second round was set up with smaller amount
of soil. We noticed how much easier tracking the ten pill bugs
were, now that they were all surfacing. The results were rather
surprising. In total, there were 34 pill bugs in the completely
dry chamber, 34 in wet/dry, 66 in damp, 15 in muddy, and 61 in
wet. A chi-squared test was performed to decide whether or not
there is a significant difference between the observed and
expected values.

o e o-e (o-e)^2 (o-e)^2/e

1 34 20 14 196 9.8

2 34 30 4 16 0.53333
3 66 40 26 676 16.9

4 15 50 -35 1225 23.5

5 61 70 -9 81 1.15714

51.89047

Degrees of freedom​- 4
P value​- 0.05
Table value​- 9.49

51.89 > 9.49

The test value is greater than the table value, so we reject the
null hypothesis.

EXPERIMENT 2
PURPOSE:​ The purpose of this lab is to determine the
environmental preferences of pill bugs based on the different
liquids present in each chamber.
QUESTION:​ Which of 4 different liquids- water, sugar water,
vinegar, and soap water- present in the chambers will the
isopods prefer the most?
HYPOTHESIS:​ Pill bugs are generally found in moist places like
underneath rocks or in the soil. Therefore because pill bugs
have already adapted to familiar scents within their habitats,
they would be more inclined on choosing water over the other
liquids.
INDEPENDENT VARIABLE​: amount of solutions on each filter
paper
DEPENDENT VARIABLE​: liquid solutions pill bugs chose to
move to
CONTROLLED VARIABLE​: light/temperature/different liquids
solutions
MATERIALS​: isopods, 5-way choice chamber, 4 circular filter
paper, different liquid solutions, timer, tape, liquid solutions
(water, sugar water, vinegar, soap water)
PROCEDURE​:
 1. Prepare each individual filter paper with a different
solution, placed in every chamber
2. Place each filter paper in a designated chamber
3. Label the chambers according to the filter papers
a. Chamber 1- Water
b. Chamber 2- Sugar Water
C. Chamber 3- Vinegar
d. Chamber 4- Soap Water
4. Tape the openings of each chamber to prevent the pill
bugs from moving from their original placement prematurely.
5. Place all the pill bugs in the center
6. Remove the tape
7. Start timing.
8. Track how many bugs are in each chamber every 30 seconds
for 10 minutes
DATA/OBSERVATIONS​:

SEC 1 water 2 sugar 3 vinegar 4 soap

water water

0 2 2 2 2

30 2 2 3 3

60 2 3 4 0

90 0 1 4 5

120 2 3 1 4

150 3 3 2 2

180 4 3 0 3

210 1 1 4 4

240 4 1 3 2

270 5 0 2 3

300 1 2 3 4

330 2 5 1 2
360 3 3 3 1

390 1 6 0 3

420 3 4 3 0

450 4 2 2 2

480 1 3 4 3

510 2 3 1 4

540 2 5 3 0

570 4 3 2 1

600 5 2 1 3

TOTAL 59 57 48 51

ANALYSIS/CONCLUSION​:The results of this experiment show that the

pill bug distribution among the different liquid solutions show
that pill bugs do prefer water and sugar water more. Pill bugs
clearly show having a way of sensing the difference between
water, sugar water, vinegar, and soap water. From a pill bug’s
anatomy, its legs and cuticle hairs have millions of sensory
receptors, allowing these organisms to detect and process the
kinds of solutions they are interacting with. Indeed,the pill
bugs demonstrated a higher favoritism towards water and sugar
water within the 10 minute observation time. However, an
obstacle through this experiment was that within the every 30
second check up, this time frame was too small, limiting the
chance of more pill bugs to be in one chamber. The results were
as expected, because vinegar was not favored over the other
solutions due to water and sugar water to be more familiar
scented and tasted. They would also avoid the vinegar due to the
odor vinegar gives off. Additionally, soap water had a higher
result than vinegar, but not as much as normal water due to the
fact that it included soap, which in fact affected the sensory
receptors on the pill bug’s hairs.
 o e o-e (o-e)^2 (o-e)^2/e

1 59 75 -16 256 3.41

2 57 43 14 196 4.56

3 48 22 26 676 30.72

4 51 75 -24 576 7.68

46.37

Degrees of freedom​- 3
P value​- 0.05
Table value​- 7.82

46.37 > 7.82

The test value is greater than the table value, so we reject the
null hypothesis.