Mealworm Experiments:
Our First Observation:
- These beautiful creatures can move front and backwards
- They move slowly
- They are light brown
- They have tiny little legs
- They are around 1 inch long
- They enjoy hiding under the oats
- six legs, which means they are not worms but they are insects
- Exoskeleton: feels hard
- We noticed they do not have eyes, but tiny eye wholes where perhaps eyes will form.
![Picture](/uploads/4/5/3/3/45333087/2638935_orig.jpg)
Mealworm Experiment #1
Fresh vs. Frozen Fruit
Participants: 5 Mealworms
Experimental Design: We put 5 mealworms in the middle of a small box. With a fresh piece of strawberry fruit and a frozen piece of strawberry We then place the cover over the box for two minutes intervals.
Prediction: Based on the evidence that we have already observed- the mealworms always being all over the fresh fruit we placed in their habitat, Amy, Kaitlyn and Michelle all predicted that the mealworms would prefer the fresh fruit over the frozen fruit.
Observations: 3 mealworms immediately went straight for the frozen fruit. Where as only 1 mealworm when to the fresh fruit.
Conclusions: We conclude that the mealworms prefer frozen fruit over fresh fruit. Perhaps because when the frozen fruit begins to melt there is more juice.
Fresh vs. Frozen Fruit
Participants: 5 Mealworms
Experimental Design: We put 5 mealworms in the middle of a small box. With a fresh piece of strawberry fruit and a frozen piece of strawberry We then place the cover over the box for two minutes intervals.
Prediction: Based on the evidence that we have already observed- the mealworms always being all over the fresh fruit we placed in their habitat, Amy, Kaitlyn and Michelle all predicted that the mealworms would prefer the fresh fruit over the frozen fruit.
Observations: 3 mealworms immediately went straight for the frozen fruit. Where as only 1 mealworm when to the fresh fruit.
Conclusions: We conclude that the mealworms prefer frozen fruit over fresh fruit. Perhaps because when the frozen fruit begins to melt there is more juice.
Mealworm Experiment #2
Orange vs. Lemon vs. Lime
Participants: 5 Mealworms
Experimental Design: We put 5 mealworms in the middle of a small box. With a fresh piece of orange, lemon and lime in each corner of the box. We then place the cover over the box for two minutes intervals.
Prediction: Our prediction was that the mealworms would prefer the orange because the lemon and lime are both sour.
Orange vs. Lemon vs. Lime
Participants: 5 Mealworms
Experimental Design: We put 5 mealworms in the middle of a small box. With a fresh piece of orange, lemon and lime in each corner of the box. We then place the cover over the box for two minutes intervals.
Prediction: Our prediction was that the mealworms would prefer the orange because the lemon and lime are both sour.
Observations: 3 mealworms immediately went straight for the orange, and only 1 mealworms went for the lime. However, the next test there was no mealworms at either the lemon or the lime.,
Conclusions: We conclude that the mealworms prefer orange over the lime and the lemon. Perhaps because the of the bitterness and sourness in both the lime and lemon.
Mealworm Experiment #3
What can a Mealworm Walk On?
Participants: 10 Mealworms
Experimental Design: We put small pieces of loose-leaf paper, tin foil, wax paper, and paper towel in the box with the 10 mealworms. We watched the mealworms for 10 minutes and placed them on the various papers to see which they would be able to walk on.
Prediction: Based on the previous experiments, Amy, Kaitlyn and Michelle predict that the mealworms will only be able to walk on the paper towel since it is very rough and the worms will be able to grip it better.
Conclusions: We conclude that the mealworms prefer orange over the lime and the lemon. Perhaps because the of the bitterness and sourness in both the lime and lemon.
Mealworm Experiment #3
What can a Mealworm Walk On?
Participants: 10 Mealworms
Experimental Design: We put small pieces of loose-leaf paper, tin foil, wax paper, and paper towel in the box with the 10 mealworms. We watched the mealworms for 10 minutes and placed them on the various papers to see which they would be able to walk on.
Prediction: Based on the previous experiments, Amy, Kaitlyn and Michelle predict that the mealworms will only be able to walk on the paper towel since it is very rough and the worms will be able to grip it better.
Observations: As we placed the various mealworms on the different pieces of papers, it was clear that the mealworms were not able to walk on wax paper or tinfoil very well. They were sliding off of the tinfoil. The mealworms were able to walk on the paper towel well, but they could walk on the loose-leaf much better.
Conclusions: We conclude that the mealworms were able to walk on loose-leaf the best, paper towel was manageable, wax paper was difficult, and not tinfoil at all.
Mealworm Experiment #4
Apple vs. Apple Sauce
Prediction: We have predicted that they will prefer the apple sauce because it may smell stronger so they’ll be attracted to it. We placed applesauce in one corner and fresh cut up apple pieces in the other. We closed the box and waited 2 minutes each time.
Conclusions: We conclude that the mealworms were able to walk on loose-leaf the best, paper towel was manageable, wax paper was difficult, and not tinfoil at all.
Mealworm Experiment #4
Apple vs. Apple Sauce
Prediction: We have predicted that they will prefer the apple sauce because it may smell stronger so they’ll be attracted to it. We placed applesauce in one corner and fresh cut up apple pieces in the other. We closed the box and waited 2 minutes each time.
Observation: No mealworms went to the applesauce during any tests. They consistently went more and more to the apple.
Conclusion: We conclude that the mealworms definitely prefered the apple compared to the applesauce. This could be because it’s more naturally and fresh. The applesauce, being a liquid, could also pose a threat to the mealworms because they could drown.
Mealworm Experiment # 5
Temperature: Heat vs Cold
Participants: 4 Beetles 1 Mealworm
Experimental Design: We put 5 mealworms in the middle of a small box and put a hair dryer in on one side of the box for 2 minutes to see what the meal worms would do.
Prediction: As a group, we predicted that the mealworms would prefer the heat. as in their natural habitat their prefer warm spots.
Conclusion: We conclude that the mealworms definitely prefered the apple compared to the applesauce. This could be because it’s more naturally and fresh. The applesauce, being a liquid, could also pose a threat to the mealworms because they could drown.
Mealworm Experiment # 5
Temperature: Heat vs Cold
Participants: 4 Beetles 1 Mealworm
Experimental Design: We put 5 mealworms in the middle of a small box and put a hair dryer in on one side of the box for 2 minutes to see what the meal worms would do.
Prediction: As a group, we predicted that the mealworms would prefer the heat. as in their natural habitat their prefer warm spots.
Observations: The beetles and mealworms seem to be more active and prefered the heat
Conclusions: We conclude that the beetles and mealworms prefer the heat over a room temperature box. The heat also made the insects more active/ more more quickly around their habitat.
Mealworm Experiment #6
Divider Between the Worms and Food
Participants: 4 Beetles and 10 Mealworms
Experimental Design: We put 5 mealworms on one side of a large box. We then put a divider between the worms and beetles, and placed food on the other side. We then timed them for 2 minutes to see what they beetles and worms would do.
Prediction: Based on the evidence that we have already observed- the beetles are very curious, we all predicted that the mealworms would stay in one place but the beetles would climb around the divider.
Conclusions: We conclude that the beetles and mealworms prefer the heat over a room temperature box. The heat also made the insects more active/ more more quickly around their habitat.
Mealworm Experiment #6
Divider Between the Worms and Food
Participants: 4 Beetles and 10 Mealworms
Experimental Design: We put 5 mealworms on one side of a large box. We then put a divider between the worms and beetles, and placed food on the other side. We then timed them for 2 minutes to see what they beetles and worms would do.
Prediction: Based on the evidence that we have already observed- the beetles are very curious, we all predicted that the mealworms would stay in one place but the beetles would climb around the divider.
Observations: The beetles were more curious than the mealworms. The mealworms stayed where they were. The beetles went around the divider first, and the third time they went over.
Conclusions: We conclude that the mealworms did not move, but the beatles went for the food despite the barrier being there.
Mealworm Experiment # 7
Habitat: Paper Towel Vs Sugar, Vs Oats Vs Paper Tent
Participants: 4 beetles and 2 mealworms
Experimental Design: We put a paper ten, paper towel, sugar and bran in the mealworm and beetles habitat to see where they would prefer to hide.
Prediction: Our prediction was that the mealworms would prefer to live in their bran habitat as that is what they come in from the petstore and it is more familiar to them.
Conclusions: We conclude that the mealworms did not move, but the beatles went for the food despite the barrier being there.
Mealworm Experiment # 7
Habitat: Paper Towel Vs Sugar, Vs Oats Vs Paper Tent
Participants: 4 beetles and 2 mealworms
Experimental Design: We put a paper ten, paper towel, sugar and bran in the mealworm and beetles habitat to see where they would prefer to hide.
Prediction: Our prediction was that the mealworms would prefer to live in their bran habitat as that is what they come in from the petstore and it is more familiar to them.
Observations: We observed that more mealworms and beetles enjoyed the paper towel vs the other object we placed in the box.
Conclusions: The mealworms and beetles were not really active. But we can concluded that they enjoyed the paper towel. and that three of the beetles were more concern on trying to climb up the box and escape inside of finding somewhere to hide.
Mealworm Experiment #8
Maze
Participants: 4 beetles
Experiment Design: We designed a maze from cardboard so that the beetles had to follow the trail to escape. We put four beetles at the beginning, and watched what happened for 2 minutes.
Predictions: We predicted that they would not be able to find their way out of the maze because it was new to them, and they aren’t very energetic.
Observation:
Conclusions: The mealworms and beetles were not really active. But we can concluded that they enjoyed the paper towel. and that three of the beetles were more concern on trying to climb up the box and escape inside of finding somewhere to hide.
Mealworm Experiment #8
Maze
Participants: 4 beetles
Experiment Design: We designed a maze from cardboard so that the beetles had to follow the trail to escape. We put four beetles at the beginning, and watched what happened for 2 minutes.
Predictions: We predicted that they would not be able to find their way out of the maze because it was new to them, and they aren’t very energetic.
Observation:
Conclusion: One beetle was successful in finding his way out of the maze, a second beetle made a respectable attempt, and the other two beetles stayed at the start line. They were more successful than we had predicted.
Mealworm Experiment #9
Do they move?
Participants: 5 Mealworms
Experiment Design: We placed the mealworms in their box and put an ‘X’ where they were in the box. We closed the lid and left the worms for 5 minutes for each trial. The goal is to see how much the mealworms moved.
Prediction: We have predicted that the mealworms will move a little since the box will be closed and it will leave them in the dark.
Mealworm Experiment #9
Do they move?
Participants: 5 Mealworms
Experiment Design: We placed the mealworms in their box and put an ‘X’ where they were in the box. We closed the lid and left the worms for 5 minutes for each trial. The goal is to see how much the mealworms moved.
Prediction: We have predicted that the mealworms will move a little since the box will be closed and it will leave them in the dark.
Observation: None of the mealworms moved a lot in our experiment. At first a few began moving more, but as we continued doing the experiment we saw less and less mealworms moving.
Conclusion: We conclude that the mealworms did not move very much. They were not very quick, and therefore not moving much at all.
Mealworm Experiment #10
Banana vs. Apple
Participants: 5 Mealworms
Experiment Design: We placed the mealworms in their box with a piece of apple, and a piece of banana. We closed the box and left the mealworms overnight to see which was eaten and which was not.
Prediction: We have predicted that the mealworms would eat the banana since it would be softer and sweeter. We believe that the mealworms will not touch the apple since it will be harder and not as easy to chew.
Conclusion: We conclude that the mealworms did not move very much. They were not very quick, and therefore not moving much at all.
Mealworm Experiment #10
Banana vs. Apple
Participants: 5 Mealworms
Experiment Design: We placed the mealworms in their box with a piece of apple, and a piece of banana. We closed the box and left the mealworms overnight to see which was eaten and which was not.
Prediction: We have predicted that the mealworms would eat the banana since it would be softer and sweeter. We believe that the mealworms will not touch the apple since it will be harder and not as easy to chew.
Observation: We observed that the banana did not last long in the mealworm habitat, and they did not like it very much. The apple was eaten whereas the banana was not.
Conclusion: We conclude that the mealworms enjoyed the apple piece much more than the banana.
Conclusion: We conclude that the mealworms enjoyed the apple piece much more than the banana.