1. Lab Investigation: Pillbug Behavior
Materials needed: Hand lens, stereoscope, ruler, petri dishes with covers, tweezers, pillbugs, filter paper, double chambers, pipette droppers, stopwatches

2. Pillbug Investigation
Part A (5 minutes):
Record observations of a pillbug
Qualitative & quantitative information
Discuss differences between qualitative and quantitative information.

3. Pillbug Investigation
Part B (30 minutes):
Question: Does a pillbug prefer wet or dry environments?
Hypothesis (If…. , then …. because…)
If 10 pillbugs are given a choice between a wet or dry chamber, then more pillbugs would prefer __________, because ________.
Students should write the question and hypothesis down in their notebooks. Discuss hypothesis writing.
DRY
WET

4. Pillbug Investigation
Experimental Design
Independent variable =
Dependent variable =
Which one is the control group?
What are some conditions that should be kept the same between groups?
Students should write the question and hypothesis down in their notebooks. Discuss hypothesis writing.
DRY
WET

5. Pillbug Investigation
Data Collection:
Record the # of pillbugs in each chamber (wet or dry) at 30 second intervals. (Remember to record data for “Time 0” too.)
Also record other notes during observation time.
Collect data for 10 minutes.
All groups will follow same protocol of data collection.

6. Design and conduct your own pillbug investigation

7. Design and conduct your own pillbug investigation
What other questions do you have about pillbug behavior?
Develop a question.
Avoid yes/no questions and why questions
Try to ask how or what questions
Should be testable and measureable
Design your investigation.
Will your investigation answer your question?
What data and observations will you record?
Once you have a clear design, get approval from Mrs. de la Pena-Nagle before you proceed.
Show students the materials available to design and conduct their investigations. Participants may want to do some research on pillbugs before developing a question.

8. Pillbug Investigation
Conduct the experiment.
Represent your data to share with the large group on chart paper.
Ask for ideas on how students should share their data. Use chart paper to show graphs. Ask students to center graphs, leaving several inches for margins. Conclusion: Purpose of the protocol is to learn a process for studying pillbug behavior.

9. Group Poster State the question Show graphical representation of data
Based on the data, make a claim, provide evidence for the claim and provide reasoning that links evidence to the claim.

10. Scientific Explanation
Claim = assertion or conclusion that answers the original question
Usually 1 sentence in length
Must be accurate, specific, and completely answer the question.

11. Scientific Explanation
Evidence = scientific data that supports the claim
Must be sufficient and relevant
Not all data is considered evidence!
Data will mostly come from lab; can also come from computer simulations, websites, textbook, class notes, etc.
Must have numerous pieces of information to support claim

12. Scientific Explanation
Reasoning = justification that links claim and evidence
Shows why the data supports the evidence using appropriate scientific principles

13. Gallery Walk Make comments on each poster with a sticky note:
(+) : Positive feedback (on claim, evidence, or scientific ideas)
(-) : Area for improvement (constructive feedback)
(?) : Question (I wonder… ?)

14. After Gallery Walk
Based on the feedback and receiving additional scientific evidence (from other groups), how would you revise your group’s explanation?