Sean Quinn Honors Biology Mrs. Pietrangelo

Hypothesis Problem- What would the ants reaction be if it was exposed to music or vibrations. Hypothesis- If the rate of the beat of the metronome is varied, then the ants ability to obtain food will vary.

Basic Concepts Harvester ants- Common ants found throughout the world. They can be red, brown, black, and even pink. Ants behave in colonies, or large groups of ants that work together to survive. Scouts go search for food then go back to report to worker ants that gather the food. Ants can lift objects up to 10 times their own weight. A metronome is an instrument that sets a beat, mainly used for musical purposes. The rates vary from 40 bpm (beats per minute), to 240 bpm.

Final Design Diagram TITLE: The effect of the speed of a metronome on the feeding of ants. HYPOTHESIS: If the speed of the metronome while feeding the ants is varied, then the ant ability to obtain food will vary. IV: Metronome DV: The time it takes for the ant to reach the food CONSTANTS: Plastic containers, ants, music speakers, food, metronome Materials: Liquid nails Plexiglas Wooden dowels Speaker Computer Ants (at antsalive.com) Levels40 BPM120 BPM200 BPMNo Beat Trials10

Procedure Cut four 6x12 inch Plexiglas sheets and two 6x6 sheets Cut two holes in one sheet for dual speakers Cut small hole in one side and big hole in other side of a bigger piece of Plexiglas Glue all sides together using liquid nails to make a container Attack speaker to holes and plug into computer

Procedure continued (experiment)… Go to Turn speaker on to desired beats (40 BPM, 120 BPM, and 200 BPM) Do 10 trials for each rate (IV) Record data

Data Table Trials40 BPM120 BPM200 BPMNo Beat 1.N/A 2.N/A 3.N/A 4.N/A 5.N/A 6.N/A 7.N/A 8.N/A 9.N/A 10.N/A

Statistical Analysis Would have used Anova- analysis of variance, a statistical method in which the variation in a set of observations is divided into distinct components.

Chart

First Experiment December 8 First experiment on ants

Close-up of Ant Container December 8

Before 2 nd Experiment

Second Experiment (during) December 15 During experiment, and tries to escape rather than reaching the food 40 BPM

After 2 nd Experiment

Conclusion My hypothesis was refuted, ants not effected by metronome Because ants could see through container, they were more focused on escaping Sources of Error The wooden dowels were too big of obstacles for the ants to move through Walls were see through Using the wrong food Changes for the future Cover sides with paper so ants can’t see through I would use smaller dowels, or maybe none at all