Raiem Smith

Ferger

October 24, 2011

Animal Behavior Lab Write Up

Overview: In this laboratory, the aspects of animal behavior will be observed. Pill bugs will be
observed and an experiment will be designed to investigate their responses to environmental
variables.
Objectives: What should be known before commencing lab:

The concept of distribution of organisms in a resource gradient

The difference between kinesis and taxis

What should be learnt after lab:

Able to describe some aspects of animal behavior

Understand the adaptiveness of the behaviors studied

Materials:
Filter paper, Petri dishes, connected container (choice chamber), distilled water, stopwatch,
plastic pipettes, tongue depressor, 10 sow bugs.
Procedure (Exercise A):
1) Place 10 sow bugs and a small amount of bedding material (soil) from their original
container in a Petri dish and cover the dish.
2) Observe them for 10 minutes, making notes on their general appearance, movements in
the dish, and interactions with one another. Do not disturb the bugs in any many while
making observations, as this may influence their behavior. Afterwards, make a sketch of a
sow bug.
3) Afterwards, get a choice chamber and place on each side one piece of filter paper.
Dampen one sides filter paper with distilled water using a plastic pipette and leave the
other side dry. Using a tongue depressor, transfer the 10 sow bugs from their stock culture
Petri dish into the choice chamber, ensuring that 5 are on one side and 5 are on the other.
Count the amount of pill bugs on each side every 30 seconds for 10 minutes and record
your data. Do not stop recording data even if they stop moving or if they all move to one
side.
4) After the 10 minutes are up, return the bugs to their Petri dish stock culture. Then graph
both the number of sow bugs in the wet chamber and the number of sow bugs in the dry
chamber.

Exercise B (Student designed experiment)

Objective: To determine the behavior of sow bugs in a variable of pH.
Hypothesis: When presented with a low and high pH, the sow bugs will go towards the lower
pH.
Materials:
Filter paper, Petri dishes, connected containers (choice chambers), 1% HCL, 2%KOH, distilled
water, stopwatch, plastic pipettes, pH test strips, tongue depressor, three 250mL beakers, 10 sow
bugs, marking pencil.
Procedure:
1) Begin by testing the pH of the original container of 1% HCL to ensure it is an acid. Then,
label a 250mL beaker as acid solution, then fill that beaker with 100mL of distilled
water. Begin adding drops of the 1% HCL, testing the solution after each drop to see if
the pH has reached a level of 4-5. If it has, the acid has been diluted to a desirable level.
Record the pH that was obtained.
2) Test the pH of the original container of 2% KOH to ensure it is a base. Then, label a
250mL beaker as base solution, then fill that beaker with 100mL of distilled water.
Begin adding drops of the 2% KOH, testing the solution after each drop to see if the pH
has reached a level of 8-9. If it has, the base has been diluted to a desirable level. Record
the pH that was obtained.
3) Place 100mL of distilled water in a 250mL beaker, labeling that beaker as distilled
water. Test the pH of the distilled water and record the pH that was obtained.
4) Place 2 pieces of filter paper on each side of a choice chamber. Using a plastic pipette,
dampen one side with the acidic solution (use this pipette only for the acidic solution, not
for any other). Then, using a different pipette, dampen the other side with the distilled
water (use this pipette only for the distilled water, not for any other).
5) Then transfer 10 sow bugs from their Petri dish stock culture to the choice chamber,
ensuring 5 are on one side and 5 are on the other. Observe the bugs for 10 minutes,
recording every 30 seconds the amount of bugs on each side of the chamber. Record your
results.
6) After the ten minutes are up, return the bugs to their Petri dish stock culture. Get a new
choice chamber and place filter paper on both sides. Dampen one side with the basic
solution using a plastic pipette (use this pipette only for the basic solution, not for any
other). Then, using the designated pipette, dampen the other side with the distilled water.
7) Transfer 10 sow bugs from their Petri dish stock culture to the choice chamber, ensuring
5 are on one side and 5 are on the other. Observe the bugs for 10 minutes, recording every
30 seconds the amount of bugs on each side of the chamber. Record your results.
8) After the experiment is over, return the sow bugs to their original container.

Data:
Exercise A
Time (mins.)
0
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0

Number in wet
chamber
5
6
5
4
4

Number in dry
chamber
5
4
5
6
6

2.5
3.0
3.5
4.0
4.5

5
6
5
4
2

5
4
5
6
8

5.0
5.5

3
3

7
7

6.0
6.5
7.0
7.5
8.0
8.5
9.0
9.5

7
8
7
6
7
6
8
8

3
2
3
4
3
4
2
2

10

Other notes

equalize
No movement, same
as last
equalize
equalize
Drastic shift to dry
side
No movement, same
as last
Shift to wet side

No movement, same
as last

Amount of sow bugs in the choice chamber

9
8
7
6
5
Number of bugs

number in wet chamber

number in dry chamber

3
2
1
0
0.5 1.5 2.5 3.5 4.5 5.5 6.5 7.5 8.5 9.5
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Time (minutes)

Exercise B (Student designed experiment)

Acid vs. Water
Time (mins.)

0
0.5

Number in acidic
solution chamber
(pH = 5)
5
2

Number in distilled
water chamber (pH =
6.5)
5
8

1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
3.0
3.5
4.0
4.5
5.0

2
3
2
1
2
5
6
4
6

8
7
8
9
8
5
4
6
4

5.5
6.0
6.5
7.0
7.5
8.0
8.5
9.0
9.5
10

6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6

4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4

Other notes

Surprising attraction to
lower pH than higher

equalize
Attraction to higher pH,
as expected

Value repeated since 5

minutes, but there was
movement between
chambers

Amount of sow bugs in the choice chamber (Acid vs. Water)

10
9
8
7
6

Number in acidic solution

chamber (pH = 5)

5
Amount of bugs

Number in distilled water

chamber (pH = 6.5)

4
3
2
1
0
0.5 1.5 2.5 3.5 4.5 5.5 6.5 7.5 8.5 9.5
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Time (minutes)

Base vs. Water

Time (mins.)

0
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
3.0
3.5
4.0
4.5
5.0

Number in basic
solution chamber
(pH = 8)
5
4
5
5
5
5
2
4
4
5
7

Number in distilled
water chamber (pH
= 6.5)
5
6
5
5
5
5
8
6
6
5
3

5.5
6.0

7
7

3
3

6.5
7.0
7.5
8.0
8.5
9.0
9.5
10

7
7
7
8
8
7
7
7

3
3
3
2
2
3
3
3

Other notes

equalize
No movement
Some change sides
No movement
Prefer lower pH
No movement
equalize
Unexpected shift to
higher pH
No movement
Some change sides,
but returned to
original side
No movement
No movement
No movement
Shift to higher pH
No movement
No movement

Amount of sow bugs in the choice chamber (Basic vs. Water)

9
8
7
6
Number in basic solution
chamber (pH = 8)

5
Amount of Bugs 4
3

Number in distilled water

chamber (pH = 6.5)

2
1
0
0.5 1.5 2.5 3.5 4.5 5.5 6.5 7.5 8.5 9.5
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Time (minutes)

Questions
Exercise A
2) Observe the sow bugs for ten minutes, making note of their general appearance,
movements, and interactions with each other.
They tend to climb upon each other. Some play dead and refrain from movement. They
have multiple legs and move around in a random manner.
3) Make a detailed sketch of a sow bug.
Picture on next page.

Analysis of results
Exercise A
1) What conclusions do you draw from your data? Explain physiological reasons for
the behavior in this activity.
It can be said, based on the data, that sow bugs prefer a damp environment over a
dry one. It can be said that this is a taxis, where they respond to a damp
environment by moving towards it.
2) Obtain results from all lab groups in your class. With respect to humidity, light,
temperature and other environmental conditions, which types of environment do
isopods prefer? How do the data support these conclusions? Give specific examples.
-With respect to texture, when given the choice of sand or cotton, and a choice of
soil and cotton, sow bugs preferred soil over cotton and cotton over sand.
-With respect to temperature, when given the choice of a hot side (42C) or a cold
side (14C), and a choice of a side at room temperature (25C) or hot side, sow
bugs preferred the cold side, and the side at room temperature.
-With respect to color, when given the choice of a brown side or a green side, and
the choice of a brown side or a yellow side, sow bugs preferred the brown over
the green and the yellow over the brown.
-With respect to light, when given the choice of a dark side, covered with
aluminum foil, or a side open to the classroom light, and the choice of side open
to the classroom light or one that had a flashlight shining on it, sow bugs preferred
the dark side with aluminum foil, but had no preference between classroom light
and flashlight.
-With respect to food presence, when given the choice of a side filled with carrots
or a side filled with soil, and the choice of a side filled with apples or a side filled
with soil, sow bugs preferred the carrots over the soil and the soil over the carrots.
3) How do isopods locate appropriate environments?
Through the use of their antennae, isopods are able to feel their environment,
seeing if it is appropriate for them or not.
4) If you suddenly turned a rock over and found isopods under it, what would you
expect them to be doing? If you watched the isopods for a few minutes, how would
you expect to see their behavior change?
Expectations would be that as soon as the rock is turned over, they would scurry
off, in search of a darker environment. If watched for a few minutes, their
behavior would calm down, as by that time, they would have found a darker, more
desirable environment.

5) Is the isopods response to moisture best classified as kinesis, or taxis? Explain your
response.
It can be classified as taxis, due to their response to a moist environment being to
move towards it, rather than move around randomly. If they were to move around
randomly, it would then be classified as kinesis.
Conclusion:
In this experiment, my partner and I observed the aspects of animal behavior, as seen in
sow bugs. We also designed our own experiment, based around varying pH levels, to see the
reaction of the sow bugs. By the end of this lab, I had a better understanding of taxis and kinesis
and how animals behave. In our designed experiment, we hypothesized that the sow bugs would
go towards a lower pH. This was true for our first test between an acidic solution and distilled
water. However, when testing between a basic solution and distilled water, the sow bugs went
towards the base, which we did not expect. Probable room for error would be that the side that
was basic in the choice chamber was damper than the side with distilled water. The bugs
probably gravitated towards the base, based upon moisture rather than pH level.