Laboratory I LEARNING OBJECTIVES 1 Design and implement an experiment using appropriate controls duplicates and measurable variables 2 Collect data and maintain a lab notebook 3 Communicate experimental protocol results and interpretation in oral and written form ACTIVITY 1 EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN REVIEW 1 For the following scenario put the correct response in the blanks provided A Independent VariableB Controlled Variable or Constant C Experimental Group D Dependent Variable E Control Group The Northwood High School Biology class conducted an experiment to determine the effects of Brand X plant fertilizer on grass growth Two plots of grass located in the same yard were used Both plots received 10 hours of sunlight per day one inch of water per week and were maintained at 28 C for a period of 30 days Once every seven days plot A received 3 grams of Brand X fertilizer dissolved in that day s water supply Plot B did not receive any fertilizer throughout the experiment E Plot B C Plot A D Grass growth A Brand X fertilizer B Amount of sunlight received 2 For the following scenario write the correct parameter next to the correct identifying term Scientists observed that white mice that were fed seeds appeared to grow more than mice fed their regular diet of leafy green and yellow vegetables The scientists hypothesized that the protein in the seed was responsible for the growth They designed an experiment to test this hypothesis They divided 200 mice of the same age size health and sex into two groups of 100 mice each The mice were kept under identical conditions for 90 days One group was given the normal low protein diet of vegetables The other group was given the new high protein diet of seeds The mass of each mouse was recorded weekly for 90 days Independent Variable amount of protein Dependent variable mice growth Controlled Variable or Constant age size health sex amount of days Control Group mice fed low protein diet Experimental Group high protein diet group In the above scenario are they collecting qualitative or quantitative data quantitative Give an example of each type of data that is or could be collected from this experiment Qualitative change in behavior Quantitative mass of mice ACTIVITY 2 NATAL BEAN DISCRIMINATION BY BEAN BEETLES During a regular semester BIO183 students conduct a semester long experiment using bean beetles as a model organism Unfortunately we will not have the option of conducting such an experiment this summer but we can at least re use some of the valuable aspects of this project In this activity you will be asked to graph and interpret data related to bean beetle behavior as if you had collected the data yourself INTRODUCTORY INFORMATION ABOUT BEAN BEETLES Bean beetles cowpea seed beetles Callosobruchus maculatus are agricultural pest insects of Africa and Asia Females lay their eggs on the surface of beans Family Fabaceae Eggs are deposited oviposition singly and several days after oviposition a beetle larva maggot burrows into the bean At 30 C pupation and emergence of an adult beetle occurs 21 30 days after an egg was deposited Adults are mature 24 36 hours after emergence and they do not need to feed Adults may live for 1 2 weeks during which time mating and oviposition occur Since larvae cannot move from the bean on which an egg was deposited the oviposition choice of a female determines the future food resources available to their offspring Brown and Downhower 1988 As a result it is the most critical choice a female makes for her offspring because it will influence their growth survival and future reproduction Mitchell 1975 Wasserman and Futuyma 1981 Although females can be induced to lay eggs oviposit on a wide range of bean species very few bean species result in normal development and the successful emergence of adults Some bean species have been shown to be toxic to Callosobruchus maculatus larvae Janzen et al 1977 Additional information can be found at the following link also on the laboratory website https www beanbeetles org handbook Introduction Figure 1 Bean Beetle eating mung bean FEMALE BEAN BEETLE PREFERENCE In this activity students were asked to perform a set of experiments to evaluate whether female bean beetles discriminate between two suitable species of beans Pretend that you are the person performing this experiment Read the set of instructions below and write down a hypothesis stating whether or not you expect female bean beetles to discriminate between mung beans and adzuki beans Hypothesis I believe that the bean beetles will choose the mung beans when faced with the decision of mung bungs and adzuki beans Rationale supporting your hypothesis The beetles will choose the mung beans because it is an instinct MATERIALS Female bean beetles Mung and adzuki beans Culture plates divided into three compartments Paintbrush and blunt end tweezers for maneuvering beetles METHODS 1 Place 10 20 adzuki beans in one compartment of your culture plate Place 10 20 mung beans in a different compartment Leave the third compartment empty 2 Place a female bean beetle in the center of the dish At the end of one minute record where the female was which compartment 3 Gently push the beetle back to the center with your paintbrush or pick the beetle up with your tweezers and place it in the center Be careful not to injure your beetle 4 Repeat steps 2 and 3 every minute for 15 minutes 5 Fill out your data sheet and repeat the experiment DATA SHEET For the purpose of this exercise pretend that your collected the following data points Natal Bean bean type from which the female emerged Location at Attempt 1 1 minute 2 minutes 3 minutes 4 minutes 5 minutes 6 minutes 7 minutes 8 minutes 9 minutes 10 minutes 11 minutes 12 minutes 13 minutes 14 minutes 15 minutes Adzuki Adzuki Adzuki Adzuki Adzuki Empty Empty Mung Mung Adzuki Adzuki Mung Empty Mung Adzuki Attempt 2 1 minute 2 minutes 3 minutes 4 minutes 5 minutes 6 minutes 7 minutes 8 minutes 9 minutes 10 minutes 11 minutes 12 minutes 13 minutes 14 minutes 15 minutes Random Expected Locations Mung 10 Adzuki 10 Actual Observed Locations 10 Empty Empty Adzuki Adzuki Adzuki Adzuki Adzuki Mung Mung Mung Mung Mung Empty Empty Mung BEAN BEETLE DATA ANALYSIS 13 Empty 10 7 1 Graph your results in Microsoft Excel and be ready to explain the reasoning behind your selection of a particular type of graph See Appendix B on the laboratory website under Resources for additional info on the various graph types 2 Did your