Problem|Purpose

What type of enviroment do Red Isopods prefer?

The purpose of this mini lab is to determine which enviroment red isopods to live in/on.  Either moist or dry.

Hypothesis

My hypothesis to this experiment is that I think red isopods would actually like both sides, moist and dry.  By what I know about isopods,  I think they like the moist area because, isopods are usually found under rocks, when it usually rains, water can go under the rocks and can stay there for a while, leaving the bottom of the rock moist and wet.  I also think isopods would like dry surface because under rocks, there is no sign of water unless it rains.  I know this because in my backyard, I find many isopods under rocks.

Materials

v Aluminum Bin

v Two sheets of paper towel

v A cup of water

v A cup of isopods

v Large construction papers

v One set of gloves

v Timer

v Science Journal and writing utensil

Procedure

1)    Wear both gloves.

2)    Take one towel paper, fold it and put it on one side of the aluminum bin.

3)    Take another towel paper, soak it in the cup of water and then squeeze the water out leaving the water moist.  Then fold it and put it on the other side of the aluminum bin.

4)    Put aside the water.

5)    Set the timer to one minutes, but don’t start it, yet.

6)    Carefully, drop the isopods in the MIDDLE of the aluminum bin, and then cover the alumin bin, by putting construction paper over it. Then, start the timer as soon as you carefully drop the isopods.

7)    After one minute, take the construction paper off the top of the aluminum bin and check to see where the isopods went. Record your data.

8)    Repeat steps 5-7 two  more additional times.

Assigned Questions

1. How did you use the scientific method in this lab?

I used the scientific method by observing, identifying, recording, trial-and-error and being critical.

1. What were you testing in this lab? [Independent Variable]

We were testing the isopods. The independent variable in this experiment are the isopods because we are testing the isopods to see which enviroment the isopods prefer to live in.

1. What did you measure in this lab? [Dependent Variable]

The dependent variable is the wet environment, in our case, the moist paper towel that the isopods are being tested on.

1. Did anything affect your results? [Extraneous Variable]

No, nothing affected our results.  Everything went the way we’d want it to be going.

1. Did anything remain constant (constants) in this lab?

The constants were the number of Isopods, the moist towel paper, the dry towel paper and the amount of time we had to cover the aluminum bin.

Data/Observation

Reflection

I enjoyed doing this experiment because it was actually fun experimenting on the isopods.  We were wondering, within that minute, where the isopods would go. Either on the moist side or the dry side. We were anxious to move the construction paper to see what was going on. I also enjoyed it because the isopods were actually making us confused.  At one time, the isopods liked the moist area better and another time they liked the dry area more, which was making us confused, but we came to a conclusion where we found out which enviroment isopods prefer.

What I would change about this experiment is that, we should’ve tried the experiment giving light to the Isopods, because in this experiment we covered the top of the aluminum bin so the Isopods were moving in the dark.  I wonder if the conclusion would change if there was light upon the isopods.  Would there be more on the moist side or the dry side?

Conclusion

In conclusion, my hypothesis was incorrect.  During trial one, the isopods didn’t go to the moist side, yet went to the dry side.  During trial two, there were more isopods on the moist side than the dry side. There were three red isopods on the moist side, while the remaining two were on the dry area.  And on the last trial (number three), there were less red isopods on the moist side, and more on the dry side.  According to the observation, isopods prefer the dry side more than the wet, moisty enviroment. My hypothesis was proved wrong because I thought there would be isopods on both sides.  But in my experimental observation, isopods liked the dry side better than the moist side, there wasn’t an equal amount of isopods on each side, which made my hypothesis wrong.