Moth Lab
10.5.11
Research Question: How did the industrial revolution affect the moth population?
Independent Variable: Color of moth
Dependent Variable: Number of moths left
Procedure:
1. Lay out 10 white moths and 10 black moths on a large black sheet of paper.
2. Have one person in your group be the pretador. Make them have their back to the table, holding a plastic bag representing the pretador's stomach. Tell them to trun around, and grab the first moth they see. Put the moth in the bag. Repeat untul there are six moths in the bag. This represents one year of hunting.
3. Record number of white and black moths left. After each year, the moths will double in population by reproducing. Double the remaining moths. Repeat until you have completed six years.
Hypothesis:
I think the white moths populations will decrease as they stand out. The black moths population will increase as they blend in with their environment.
Independent Variable: Color of moth
Dependent Variable: Number of moths left
Procedure:
1. Lay out 10 white moths and 10 black moths on a large black sheet of paper.
2. Have one person in your group be the pretador. Make them have their back to the table, holding a plastic bag representing the pretador's stomach. Tell them to trun around, and grab the first moth they see. Put the moth in the bag. Repeat untul there are six moths in the bag. This represents one year of hunting.
3. Record number of white and black moths left. After each year, the moths will double in population by reproducing. Double the remaining moths. Repeat until you have completed six years.
Hypothesis:
I think the white moths populations will decrease as they stand out. The black moths population will increase as they blend in with their environment.
Claim:
My hypothesis was somewhat correct as the white moths decreased, but then in year 4, their population increased. The black moths deceased, but inceased in year 4.
Evidence:
In the begining, there were 10 white moths and 10 black moths. The black moths decreased, and the white moths same. The next year, both the black and the white moths decreased, until the white moths had a population of 6 and the black moths had a population of 3. The black moths then increased to 5 the next year. The white moths also increased to 8. The white moths increased the next year to 10, and the black moths increased their population to 9.
The black moths increased the next two years from 15 to 29. The white moths increased the next two years from 15 to 25.
Reasoning:
Althought the black moths can blend in with their environment, they decreased the first year. My hypothesis was incorrect for the first two years of the black moth population. As the years progressed, the black moth population increased to a high of 29. My hypothesis was correct for the first three years of the white moth population as they decreased. But they reproduced faster than the pretador was able to eat them, and their population increased in year 4. On some parts, my hypothesis was correct, but for some years, my hypothesis was incorrect.