Isopod Lab

Isopods are land dwelling crustaceans also known as pill bugs. In the lab the isopods will be studied on ethology which is the study of animal behavior. The taxis and kinesis will also be studied of the isopods. Taxis is when a certain factor attracts or repels an individual. Kinesis is when an individual randomly moves because of a certain factor.

The isopods used for this experiment range in color from gray to brown and were about 8.5 to 18 mm in length. Each Isopod’s head had one pair of antennae and one pair of antennules, both used to detect sensory stimuli from the environment around the pillbug. Their bodies were made of a hard thorax with seven segments and an abdomen. Each pillbug had seven pairs of legs, one for each segment of its thorax. Pill bugs breathe through gill-like structures and must live in moist places.

Given these simple characteristics, isopods are of great and easy use for scientific studies. The goal of the first experiment was to determine whether or not isopods prefer a moist environment or a dry environment. This led to the hypothesis that isopods have a preference between wet or dry environments;

1The isopods will gather in the wetter environment instead of the dry environment. 2The isopods will have an affinity to a more basic region than an acidic region. 3The isopods will tend to gather in the environment with a greater amount of light, than an environment with no light. 4The isopods will take a liking to a warmer temperature environment than a cooler temperature environment.By looking at the data you can see that there is a preference among isopods to favor an environment that is cold, wet, basic, and dark. We included the observed data as well as the expected data. Our expected data show what the information would look like if it came from a null universe. To come from a null universe means that the data will have no difference,

Pillbugs and sowbugs are terrestrial isopods that belong to the order Isopoda and the arthropod class crustacean. According to the Current Topics in Microbiology and Immunology, the terrestrial isopods have evolved from the marine forms. However despite the fact that they seek moist environments they must also avoid an overly moist environment (Journal of Insect Science, 2008). The two different species resemble one another phenotypically. However, pillbugs are a dark gray and the sow bugs are a light gray with posterior projections. Pillbugs also curl into a ball when they feel endangered and the sow bugs do not. The pill bugs used in this experiment were female. Isopods primarily live in dark, damp habitats in order to prevent dehydration (Isopod Behavior Lab). The purpose of this experiment was to determine the type of environment isopods prefer. First we tested to see if the isopods preferred a dry or moist environment and then we tested to see if they preferred the potting soil or the leaf litter environment. For the observation of isopods in response to moisture experiment it was said that each of the two different species would prefer a different environment. For part two, Observation of Isopods in response to other variables, it was hypothesized that the Isopods would prefer the potting soil or the leaf litter environment.

Conclusion: In our experiment, we were able to observe the isopods behavior. According to our hypothesis, it stated that if we divide the isopods equally in light and dark, carefully administered, the isopods will gravitate towards the darker side. The dependent variables were the isopods and their behavior whereas the independent variables were time, temperature and light. We conducted our experiment by collecting a total of 16 isopods in total and equally distributing them into two chambers that we had constructed. The chambers were made out of two water cups and one cardboard paper in the middle to make a bridge to allow isopods to move into the other side. The group used paper towels to make sure the bugs couldn't burrow beneath. In total we had 3 trials put

Corresponding to the previous experiment, this week’s experiment measures the participants’ ability to conduct basic, fundamental laboratory procedures. These procedures revolve around scientific measurements of volume, mass, and density. Unlike last week’s activity, this week’s experiment had a few modifications. In addition to distilled water, saltwater and an unknown substance were added. There was a total of five substances to choose from; Hexane, Methanol, Ethyl acetate, Ethylene glycol, and Dichloromethane. Part C, the unknown liquid number was four, which the average density was 0.789 gmL-1, and from looking at the chart the unknown identity was methanol. Part A, the temperature of the water was 20 oC, which was in front of the class,

Eventually, the isopods scattered about the different environments, probably to find a way to escape. The bugs even worked together to boost each other up over the edge of the enclosure, and we needed to place them back inside. Although the environments were the same (wet or dry soil), we recognized that each of them was slightly

Based on previous research and literature, the common cold virus (Rhinovirus) aggravates symptoms of asthma. In addition, those with asthma tend to be affected by Rhinovirus more often than healthy patients, or allergic individuals without asthma. Our hypothesis is that there are differences in innate immunity that result in an exaggerated response in asthmatics. In order to unravel the mechanism behind this difference, nose scrapings were taken from asthmatic and non-asthmatic patients. The epithelial cells were treated with varying conditions including control media, rhinovirus at concentrations of 10TCID and 100TCID, and poly dIdC, which is a RNA mimic of the common virus designed

The purpose of our experiment was to observe the behavior of the pill bugs. We were trying to find exactly whether the pill bugs would be attracted or repelled by the chemicals. The chemicals used were vinegar, water, salt solution and a sugar

The early stages of their lives are spent on the intertidal flats and shallow water areas near their natal beaches. However, as they grow, they wander even farther from the shallow waters into deeper estuarine waters (Shuster, 1979) and are fully capable of excursions onto the continental shelf in search of prey when their habitat is threatened, or when the population becomes too dense (Sekiguchi & Shuster, 2011). Because they can tolerate and cope with wide ranging environmental conditions, especially temperature and salinity, they are classified as environmental generalists (Sekiguchi & Shuster, 2011). Limulus polyphemus are also regarded as dietary generalists; adult horseshoe crabs are omnivorous and feed on a wide variety of seabed invertebrates, including crustaceans, gastropods, polychaetes, bivalves (Botton et al. 2003; Botton, 2009), and even algae (Cartwright-Taylor, 2015). When the crabs encounter patches of their preferred prey, such as bivalves, they have been known to feed extensively, packing their guts with the shells (Botton,

Looking at our results and data tables we see that as the concentration of the solution is changed there is a shift in equilibrium. For part 2 we used test tube number 1 as a reference sample to see how much change in color the solution went through. For part 1 the only stress that was introduced was changes in concentration once different compounds were mixed with each other. Since concentration is one of the factors that help us determine which way the reaction shift then we can find this out by observation, no calculations.

In this experiment we dissected a frog. A frog is a tailless amphibian with short squat body. It has moist skin, and very long hind legs for leaping. Frogs are a diverse and largely carnivous. Its scientific name is Anura has a life span of 10 to 12 years. The frog habitat is in or near ponds. The eggs hatch out into tiny tadpoles which cling to the pond weed feather- like external gills on the side of the head. They eat the algae in the pond and other vegetable matter.

This could be prevented if the person who is counting the oscillations also times them themselves.

Habitat-indifferent halophytes are as suggested indifferent to their habitat, yet again preferring a soil that is low in salinity. This type is defined as having a tolerance to salinity (Grigore et al 2014; Mishra et al 2017).