Virtual Lab: Mealworm Behavior - Weebly



ANSWER KEYVirtual Lab: Mealworm BehaviourMealworms are the larvae (immature forms) of the darkling beetle, Tenebrio molitor. They are widely sold in pet stores for use as food sources for reptiles, fish, and wild birds. Due to their size, ease of rearing and handling, mealworms are also used widely in biological research. They will respond to different types of stimuli in their environments, and are ideal for studying animal behaviour.Objectives: By the end of the activity, you will…predict, observe, and describe the responses of mealworms to various stimulidistinguish between reflexive and instinctive behavioursexplain the importance of reflexive and instinctive behavioursGo to: and click on “Mealworm Behaviour”.Pre-lab questionsRead the introduction on the left side of the page, and answer the questions below.What does it mean to say that a behaviour is “innate”?It is a behavior that the organism is born with and has enabled the organism to survive. It is not a behavior that is learned. Distinguish between reflexive behaviours and instinctive behaviours.Reflexive behaviors are an organism’s immediate reaction to a stimulus. It is a form of innate behavior. These messages are sent to the spinal cord and straight to the muscle. Instinctive behaviors are those that have evolved over time in the organism. The organism will recognize the stimulus and perform the behavior to completion. (Choose the best response) What is the simplest type of innate behaviour?learned behavioursautomatic responses to stimuliresponses to stimuli that bypass the brainautomatic responses that do not bypass the brainb and cb and dClassify each stimulus below as visual, tactile, chemical, temperature, or auditory. More than one classification may apply; if this is the case, write all of them.A metal pot falls to the ground, producing a loud sound. Auditory, A mischievous friend touches an ice cube to your tailbone. Temperature, tactileCooking bacon produces a familiar scent, and crackling sound. Auditory, chemicalA traffic light turns yellow, signaling to apply your car brakes. VisualList one instinctive human behaviour and one reflexive human behaviour.Instinctive: Answers may vary. Ex. human fear of certain animals (i.e snakes), certain emotions that we feel. Reflexive: Answers may vary. Ex. the knee-jerk reflex, reflex when touching a hot plate. ProcedureFollow the procedure outlined on the left side of the page. It will guide you through the process of making predictions and observations of mealworm behaviour. After you have made your first four observations, press Reset to obtain a new set of stimuli. Keep doing this until you have made observations of all of the stimuli listed below.ObservationsRecord the observed behaviour, the type of behaviour (reflexive/instinctive, and type of stimulus, for each stimulus applied to the mealworm. Some of the experimental conditions may represent more than one type of stimulus (e.g., a stimulus may be both visual and chemical).StimulusObserved Behaviour(point form)Type of BehaviourType of StimulusPetri dish with light and dark coloured sidesExplores both sides and stays on the dark sideinstinctiveVisualConstruction paper covers part of the dishGoes under the paper and stays thereInstinctivevisualPiece of cooked macaroniImmediately moves toward the macaroniinstinctivevisualA piece of uncooked macaroniMoves awayinstinctivevisualTouched by aFeatherWriggles aroundreflexiveTactileBeam of light shines on mealworm’s headMoves awayInstinctiveVisualDrops of ammonia placed near mealwormBacks away from the ammoniaInstinctiveChemicalTouched by a metal paper clipBecomes still for a momentreflexiveTactileDrops of apple juice placed near mealwormMoves towards it and drinks itinstinctiveChemicalAir blown on mealworm’s headMoves away from the airreflexiveTactileSlice of apple introducedMoves toward apple and eats itinstinctiveChemicalAlarm beeps near the mealwormRemains stillreflexiveNote: mealworms do not have earstactileCool water dropped on the mealwormIt wriggles around and then becomes stillreflexiveTactileBran flakes are introducedMoves toward bran flakes and eats theminstinctiveChemicalA piece of banana is introducedMoves toward banana and eats itinstinctiveChemicalPiece of cardboardCrawls over the cardboardinstinctiveVisualDrops of hot water are placed near the mealwormMoves towards the water, then backs awayInstinctiveTactileWhat type of clue did you use to help you classify behaviours as either reflexive or instinctive? Explain. Answers may vary. If an organism moves in response to a stimuli it is a more complex pattern/behavior thus it must have been developed overtime through evolution, thus it is instinctive. If the behavior is simple and the organism responds immediately to the stimulus, it is reflexive. Pick one of the stimuli from the experiment. In a sentence, summarize the mealworm’s response. Then, propose a proximate and an ultimate explanation for the response you observed.Stimulus and response: Answers may vary. E.g placing a slice of banana near the mealwormProximate: The chemicals released from the slice of banana. Ultimate: the mealworm will move towards the slice of banana so that it can get resources and ensure its survival. Select two new stimuli (from your great big imagination) you would like to test: one that you think results from reflexive behaviour, and one you think results from instinctive behaviour:What is the stimulus you think results from reflexive behaviour? Answers may varyWhy? ___________________________________________________________________________What is the stimulus you think results from instinctive behaviour? Answers may varyWhy? ___________________________________________________________________________After observing that mealworms move toward cooked macaroni, but away from uncooked macaroni, you form the following hypothesis: “Mealworms only move toward food that is moist”.You decide to test your hypothesis with dry bran flakes. You use a mealworm exposed to cooked macaroni as your control group, and a mealworm exposed to bran flakes as your experimental group.What is your independent variable (variable that can be controlled)? cooked macaroni, dry bran flakes.What is your dependent variable? The mealworm’s reaction*The variable should be something that changes during the experiment. Thus in this case it would be the mealworm’s response to both stimuli. Write out your prediction (a prediction is an “if…..then….” statement based on your hypothesis):Answers will vary. E.g ‘If bran flakes are placed in the petri dish, the mealworm will move away from the food source because it’s instinctive behavior is to move towards/eat moist food. Refer to the behaviour you observed for the stimulus of dry bran flakes. Was the hypothesis supported? □ yes, the hypothesis was supported□ no, the hypothesis was not supportedWrite one question that this raises in your mind. Write a new hypothesis based on this question and describe a new independent variable (IV) you could test to answer this question. Hypothesis: Answers will vary. _____________________________________________________________________________I.V.: _________________________________________________________________________ ................
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