I must have not explained that right. A variable for this kind of project would be--oh, I'll use the same example that the teacher gave me: You're wondering what kind of mulch will make the soil most acid. You have six pots all filled with the same amount of soil from the same place, but you put in a different kind of mulch in each one. The different kinds of mulch would be the variable. I don't know if I'm making any sense. The predator thing is a good idea, all the same, and I'm looking into that and some other ideas. I think tarantulas are going to be much more interesting than blowing up fruit like I did last year (don't ask me how that went)~Sarah
Tarantulas and science projects
- Thread starter Sarah
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well you could try using different species of tarantulas but that could get expensive if you don't already have several different T's.
What kind of experiment are you thinking about? There have already been several good ideas here. And what is your time frame?
What kind of experiment are you thinking about? There have already been several good ideas here. And what is your time frame?
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If that's the angle the teacher wants you to take, how about which kind prey motivates Ts best? This is even simpler to run. Come up with something to act as a prey holder that you can use for all of them (I'm picturing constructing some sort of tiny mesh cages). Then you place your T in the center of an arena with a selection of prey choices (e.g. crickets, mealworms, dead pinky - there's your carrion, earthworms, mealworm beetles, etc.) and observe if it shows any preference for checking out one over another.
Well, it has to be on spiders, because that's the topic I chose, and I've already chosen my bibliography sources on them. I don't really know exactly what my time frame is; it's just kind of presented to us as we go along, but I know I have to write the backround before my investigation plan. But acheiving something not done before sounds pretty good...don't know how I'd do it, because I'm so tarantula-illiterate.
Actually, I was planning to do my science project on exothermic reactions, but I decided to go with tarantulas when I saw one while I was milking my goats. He was walking a straight line from the stanchion to a tree sprinkler, going slowly but surely. I went back to check on him later, and sure enough, there he was, still making for that sprinkler. You have to admire that kind of determination
~Sarah
Actually, I was planning to do my science project on exothermic reactions, but I decided to go with tarantulas when I saw one while I was milking my goats. He was walking a straight line from the stanchion to a tree sprinkler, going slowly but surely. I went back to check on him later, and sure enough, there he was, still making for that sprinkler. You have to admire that kind of determination
~Sarah
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well, why not do both? How about taking a couple of slings(baby tarantulas in case you don't know the term) and raising each one at a different temperature. Say keep one at 60-65 degrees, the next one at 70-75 degrees, and then a third one at 80-85 degrees. You should be able to see a difference in their growth rates. Just a thought.
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controlling growth rate
Personally, (depending on how much time you have before you need to present the project of course and $ you can afford to spend on the project) I would get a handful of A.avic slings in identical enclosures and place groups on a slightly different feeding schedules, keep a daily journal on temp and humidity and exposure to light, then record the feedings in detail. I'd feed one group the minimum safe amount to keep them healthy, another group the average feeding schedule, and the third group I would feed as much as they were willing to take. Hypoth would be that the group fed the most will grow the fastest and molt more frequently. Should meet all of the requirements.
Using a group rather than an individual for each gives credence to the experiment BTW and helps prevent any "fluke" or false results. This way you have only one variable as you said, "How much are they eating?" being comparible to what mulch did you use, and "which group grew fastest/molted most often" being comparible to the resulting acidity of the soil tested. Assuming you have a few months for the test to run its course you should have significant results. If the results are due in a couple weeks you'll be hard pressed to do any sort of testing that will yield any reliable results regarding growth though.
Behavioral study in that case would be your best bet, and I'd go with a test of the specimens acceptance of prey items under specific conditions regarding temperature to display how warmer temps induce the specimens to react faster to prey and consume more. That experiment could be conducted in a relatively short amount of time at least. I wouldn't bother with the tubes and mazes though, just drop a prey item in the enclosure at the end opposite the T and time them with a stop watch to see how long they take to react to it and go get it, but notate any prey items that wander right in to the T face of course and try to prevent that from occurring cause it would skew the results of the experiment a bit.
Personally, (depending on how much time you have before you need to present the project of course and $ you can afford to spend on the project) I would get a handful of A.avic slings in identical enclosures and place groups on a slightly different feeding schedules, keep a daily journal on temp and humidity and exposure to light, then record the feedings in detail. I'd feed one group the minimum safe amount to keep them healthy, another group the average feeding schedule, and the third group I would feed as much as they were willing to take. Hypoth would be that the group fed the most will grow the fastest and molt more frequently. Should meet all of the requirements.
Using a group rather than an individual for each gives credence to the experiment BTW and helps prevent any "fluke" or false results. This way you have only one variable as you said, "How much are they eating?" being comparible to what mulch did you use, and "which group grew fastest/molted most often" being comparible to the resulting acidity of the soil tested. Assuming you have a few months for the test to run its course you should have significant results. If the results are due in a couple weeks you'll be hard pressed to do any sort of testing that will yield any reliable results regarding growth though.
Behavioral study in that case would be your best bet, and I'd go with a test of the specimens acceptance of prey items under specific conditions regarding temperature to display how warmer temps induce the specimens to react faster to prey and consume more. That experiment could be conducted in a relatively short amount of time at least. I wouldn't bother with the tubes and mazes though, just drop a prey item in the enclosure at the end opposite the T and time them with a stop watch to see how long they take to react to it and go get it, but notate any prey items that wander right in to the T face of course and try to prevent that from occurring cause it would skew the results of the experiment a bit.
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Hi!
I've got another idea:
It is interesting to see how light and heat cycles influence the behavior and development of T's.
You could keep some T's in several Terrariums e.g
- one group always dark and at a certain constant Temperatur
- another group always dark and cycle the temperatur with regular Day/night temps
- still another group always light at a constant Temp
-one group light always light with at Temp cycle
-one goup alternating light/dark at constant temps
and one group alternating light/dark and with a temp cycle
The Hypothesis would be: T strive best if there is light/dark cycle and warmer/cooler Temperatur cycle.
You could measure growth rate. and compare them with each other.
I think that could be done but is also quite complex.
CU
I've got another idea:
It is interesting to see how light and heat cycles influence the behavior and development of T's.
You could keep some T's in several Terrariums e.g
- one group always dark and at a certain constant Temperatur
- another group always dark and cycle the temperatur with regular Day/night temps
- still another group always light at a constant Temp
-one group light always light with at Temp cycle
-one goup alternating light/dark at constant temps
and one group alternating light/dark and with a temp cycle
The Hypothesis would be: T strive best if there is light/dark cycle and warmer/cooler Temperatur cycle.
You could measure growth rate. and compare them with each other.
I think that could be done but is also quite complex.
CU
Last edited:
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If you have access to a reasonable number of Ts you could get people to rank them in order of scaryness. You could hypothesise that size increases the fear factor and then test your hypothesis against the poll's results. You could even do this with photos, instead of live Ts.
I would be interested to know what factors influence the irrational fear of arachnids most.
There's my suggestion.
Good luck with whatever project you decide to go ahead with.
I would be interested to know what factors influence the irrational fear of arachnids most.
There's my suggestion.
Good luck with whatever project you decide to go ahead with.
I would go along with the idea of looking at growth rates of slings and the effect of temperature or feeding rate on them. Use a fast growing T like A. Geniculata or L. parahybana, set up a minimum of three different groups and measure the time from each molt to the next molt. You could also measure the size of the tarantula at each molt, and possibly the weight if you have accurate scales.
Along similar lines, would be the posiblilty to look at the effect of 'gut loading' food for tarantulas. Again, have three control groups, and feed the tarantulas and equal number of crickets that have been either just given water, ones on a meduim nutrient diet and ones on a high protien/high nutrient diet. Then measure the growth rate of the three groups of Ts an see if a high nutrient diet has a positive effect on growth rate. Your hypothesis could be, "a high protien/nutrient diet will increase the growth rate of tarantulas"
Anyway, just some ideas, tell us when you decide.
Dan.
Along similar lines, would be the posiblilty to look at the effect of 'gut loading' food for tarantulas. Again, have three control groups, and feed the tarantulas and equal number of crickets that have been either just given water, ones on a meduim nutrient diet and ones on a high protien/high nutrient diet. Then measure the growth rate of the three groups of Ts an see if a high nutrient diet has a positive effect on growth rate. Your hypothesis could be, "a high protien/nutrient diet will increase the growth rate of tarantulas"
Anyway, just some ideas, tell us when you decide.
Dan.
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Too many of these ideas are way too complicated for what a 10th grader has access to, and require statistical analyses to show anything way beyond what a 10th grader knows how to do. I'm also skeptical of having enough time to demonstrate significant variations even with something like a geniculata.
I do research for a living (when I'm not chasing some new degree). To do the sort of sling study that was just suggested you would need to have slings from the same egg sac (to eliminate genetic variables), and you would need to have at least 5 of *same* gender. That really means raising at least 9 slings (but really need some padding to account for deaths during the study) until they are sexable at the least. You would need access to multiple regulated growth chambers (I doubt more than a small percentage of high schools have even one of these). You could bastard rig them out of some igloo coolers and fans and fishtank heaters in a jar of water with electronic thermostats, but then you'd be pushing the costs into the few hundred dollar range at the minimum. You would also need access to a real balance to measure exact consumption of food. And so on.
That is in no way, shape, or form, a feasible study for a HS science project. Materials alone would run at least $100 just for the spiders (and possibly hundreds more to build multiple and accurate growth environments), and it would involve several months of detailed measurements and note keeping. I double most college seniors could do it properly even assuming they were some sort of bio major.
You've got to keep it simple. So far, Luther's is one of the only ideas besides mine that's feasible in my opinion. You can't just think of any study, you've got to think of a study that can be done in a few months time on a shoestring budget by a high school student who probably hasn't even taken AP Biology yet.
I do research for a living (when I'm not chasing some new degree
). To do the sort of sling study that was just suggested you would need to have slings from the same egg sac (to eliminate genetic variables), and you would need to have at least 5 of *same* gender. That really means raising at least 9 slings (but really need some padding to account for deaths during the study) until they are sexable at the least. You would need access to multiple regulated growth chambers (I doubt more than a small percentage of high schools have even one of these). You could bastard rig them out of some igloo coolers and fans and fishtank heaters in a jar of water with electronic thermostats, but then you'd be pushing the costs into the few hundred dollar range at the minimum. You would also need access to a real balance to measure exact consumption of food. And so on.That is in no way, shape, or form, a feasible study for a HS science project. Materials alone would run at least $100 just for the spiders (and possibly hundreds more to build multiple and accurate growth environments), and it would involve several months of detailed measurements and note keeping. I double most college seniors could do it properly even assuming they were some sort of bio major.
You've got to keep it simple. So far, Luther's is one of the only ideas besides mine that's feasible in my opinion. You can't just think of any study, you've got to think of a study that can be done in a few months time on a shoestring budget by a high school student who probably hasn't even taken AP Biology yet.
Hey, I figured out how I can make the thing with tarantulas finding their prey work! My variable can be different kinds of bugs placed at different distances. I mean, a tarantula would probably be able to find a cricket that's hopping all over the place in a mesh cage better than a mealworm that's just sitting there. There are still some things I'll have to think out, but my investigation plan isn't due for a while~Sarah
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Sarah,
Your variable could be food (present or absent). Keep the food type constant. Other variables that must be kept constant besides species of prey are: species of tarantula, size of T, age of T, temperature, humidity, light, wind, noise, and enclosure. The T's would all have to have the same food and water in the same time duration prior to the experiment. These are know as controlled variables, essential for a controlled experiment.
Also, for a science fair project they are looking for large sample size, and large # of trials. In other words, not just one T; and not just one trial. Example: Ten tarantulas trying to detect prey or no prey through the u-shaped maze 12 times each.
If you want to impress the judges at the science fair, refine and repeat the experiment. Figure out what didn't go the way you planned in the entire first experiment, and repeat with a new and improved experimental design. Document these changes in your lab notebook. The judges will be VERY IMPRESSED and consider your experiment a more matrure work.
I know, because I've judged many science fairs
Good Luck!
Your variable could be food (present or absent). Keep the food type constant. Other variables that must be kept constant besides species of prey are: species of tarantula, size of T, age of T, temperature, humidity, light, wind, noise, and enclosure. The T's would all have to have the same food and water in the same time duration prior to the experiment. These are know as controlled variables, essential for a controlled experiment.
Also, for a science fair project they are looking for large sample size, and large # of trials. In other words, not just one T; and not just one trial. Example: Ten tarantulas trying to detect prey or no prey through the u-shaped maze 12 times each.
If you want to impress the judges at the science fair, refine and repeat the experiment. Figure out what didn't go the way you planned in the entire first experiment, and repeat with a new and improved experimental design. Document these changes in your lab notebook. The judges will be VERY IMPRESSED and consider your experiment a more matrure work.
I know, because I've judged many science fairs
Good Luck!