Termites are small, white insects that lives in colonies underground. These insects mainly feed on wood and use pheromones to follow trails leading to their source of food. Pheromones are defined as a chemical substance given off by an insect, that affects the behavior of other insects or species. [1] The purpose of this experiment is to test the hypothesis, that the tracking ability of the worker termite is impacted by the writing utensils used.
One red Vollrath tray with lip, one Office Max Multipurpose paper, one Paintbrush, one Diamond Daily Minicup and one of the writing utensils listed were obtained. A single sheet of paper was placed onto the middle of the tray without touching the raised lip. Then the paintbrush was used to place …show more content…
This hypothesis was supported by Group four’s data, that worker termites tracked three Papermate pens 17.3% (9 of 52 trials) of the time. Three Bic Ultra pens were tracked 1.9%(1 of 52 trials) of the time.While the pencil lines that were drawn didn’t get a single termite to track, 0% (0 of 52 trials). Furthermore, Worker termites tracked the pens’ trails, especially Papermate pens because the ink has a smell that is very similar to a trail pheromone that worker termites secrete [2]. These same trends gain even more supported from examining the class data, which had a total of 312 trials. According to the class data, worker termites tracked three Papermate pens 18.59% (58 of 312 trials) of the time. Three Bic Ultra pens were tracked 9.9%(31 of 312 trials) of the time. While the pencil lines that were drawn still didn’t get a single termite to track, 0% (0 of 312 …show more content…
That using the same paper for several pens and inconsistent parallels of lines might have had an effect on the termites’ ability to track individual lines. Keeping one writing utensil per paper or make certain of a measured distance between each line drawn could have foster better results. The assumption that the Bic Ultra pens used didn’t have been altered or damage before the experiment could be wrong. There is possibility that those pens could’ve been contaminated and impact claims made. Maybe the worker termites used could have been a strange batch and inconsistent with typical worker termites, this could’ve negatively effected the experiment. One way to test that this experiment was not a fluke is by conducting the experiment again with entirely new batch of worker termites.
After conducting the experiment, cross examining with peers and having references to support the scientific study of trail pheromones [2], the original hypothesis, “The tracking ability of the termite is impacted by the writing utensil used.” has been thoroughly
One red Vollrath tray with lip, one Office Max Multipurpose paper, one Paintbrush, one Diamond Daily Minicup and one of the writing utensils listed were obtained. A single sheet of paper was placed onto the middle of the tray without touching the raised lip. Then the paintbrush was used to place …show more content…
This hypothesis was supported by Group four’s data, that worker termites tracked three Papermate pens 17.3% (9 of 52 trials) of the time. Three Bic Ultra pens were tracked 1.9%(1 of 52 trials) of the time.While the pencil lines that were drawn didn’t get a single termite to track, 0% (0 of 52 trials). Furthermore, Worker termites tracked the pens’ trails, especially Papermate pens because the ink has a smell that is very similar to a trail pheromone that worker termites secrete [2]. These same trends gain even more supported from examining the class data, which had a total of 312 trials. According to the class data, worker termites tracked three Papermate pens 18.59% (58 of 312 trials) of the time. Three Bic Ultra pens were tracked 9.9%(31 of 312 trials) of the time. While the pencil lines that were drawn still didn’t get a single termite to track, 0% (0 of 312 …show more content…
That using the same paper for several pens and inconsistent parallels of lines might have had an effect on the termites’ ability to track individual lines. Keeping one writing utensil per paper or make certain of a measured distance between each line drawn could have foster better results. The assumption that the Bic Ultra pens used didn’t have been altered or damage before the experiment could be wrong. There is possibility that those pens could’ve been contaminated and impact claims made. Maybe the worker termites used could have been a strange batch and inconsistent with typical worker termites, this could’ve negatively effected the experiment. One way to test that this experiment was not a fluke is by conducting the experiment again with entirely new batch of worker termites.
After conducting the experiment, cross examining with peers and having references to support the scientific study of trail pheromones [2], the original hypothesis, “The tracking ability of the termite is impacted by the writing utensil used.” has been thoroughly