Crawl Space - Which Environments Do Mealworms Prefer?

Question:

Which environments is best for meal worms, dark or light, wet or dry, cold or hot, high elevated or low elevated?

Hypothesis:

I think the meal worms will like the light, dry, hot, low elevated environment.

Procedere:

1. Make an H-shaped tube to put the mealworms in

2. put foil under tubes and cover one on top with tin foil and plastic wrap over the other

3. insert meal worms and wait a day

4. take off mateirals and record the worms

5. repeat steps three and four, two more times

6. put microwavable ice pack in microwave for one minute

7. put ice pack in one side and and microwavable pack in the other

8. repeat steps three four and five

9. soak one tube

10. repeat steps three four and five

11. place tube on bunk bed, leave one on the ground, and replace middle tube with a gift wrapping tube

12. repeat steps three four and five

Data:

Which are Meal Worms’ Favorite Environments?

Pie Charts

Conclusion

In conclusion, my experiment proved that mealworms prefer cold, dry, low elevated environments, but they don’t care if they are in light or dark. This is proven because when given a choice between a cold location and a warm location, 78% of the worms prefered the cold. When the worms were given a choice between a dry location and a wet location, 78% of the worms prefered the dry. And when given the choice between a high elevation and a low elevation, 100% of the worms prefered a low elevation. The amount of worms was too close in the light or dark test to determine a preference because they were 44.4% for light and 55.6% for dark. I think this may have happened because they might not be able to sense light or dark. The hypothesis was partially correct because it stated that the mealworms might prefer the dry and low elevated environments, but partially wrong because it stated that the mealworms might like the light and hot environments. My experiment was fair because I used the same amount of food and worms and used the same worms. I could improve this experiment if I'd used a heated pack that lasted forever. In conclusion, mealworms prefer cold, dry, low elevated environments.

Abstract

Which Environments do Mealworms Prefer?

Noah Pruszinski

I wanted to find out what environment mealworms prefer. The tests were to determine the preference of dark or light, hot or cold, wet or dry, and high elevated or low elevated. The mealworms were put into a device with two environments. The device was H-shaped and was made out of cardboard tubes. Another device that was longer than the first was made for the high elevation or low elevated test. The hypothesis was that mealworms prefered light, hot, dry, and low elevated environments. I thought that they might like grassland biomes.

I tested the mealworms in each environment pair for a day and then recorded which environment they chose to stay in. Each environment pair was tested three times. First, was the dark or light test. I put plastic wrap over one tube and aluminum foil over the other. Second, was the cold or hot experiment where I put an ice pack under one tube and a microwavable hot pack under the other. The microwavable hot pack had to be reheated every two hours. Third, was the wet or dry test where one tube was sprayed with water. Lastly, was the low elevation or high elevation experiment where I had to build a longer tube. This tube was placed on a bunk bed.

In the light or dark test, 55.6% percent of the mealworms preferred the light, and 44.4% of the mealworms preferred the dark. These percentages are too close to have a definite answer. In the hot or cold test, 77.8% of the mealworms preferred the cold, and 22.2% of the mealworms preferred the hot. Therefore, mealworms prefer cold environments. In the wet or dry test, s77.8% of the mealworms preferred the dry, and 22.2% of the mealworms preferred the wet. Therefore, mealworms prefer dry environments. In the low elevation or high elevation experiment, 100% of the mealworms preferred low elevation, and 0% of the mealworms preferred high elevation. Mealworms prefer low elevated environments.

In conclusion, this experiment proved that mealworms prefer cold, dry, low elevated environments, but they don’t care if they are in light or dark. This is proven because seventy-seven and eight tenths percent of the worms prefer the cold, seventy-seven and eight tenths percent of the worms prefer the dry, and a hundred percent of the worms prefer low elevation. The amount of worms were too close in the light or dark test were too close to determine a preference. The hypothesis was half correct because it stated that the mealworms might prefer the dry and low elevated environments, but half wrong because it stated that the mealworms might like the light and hot environments. My experiment was fair because I used the same amount of food and worms and used the same worms. This experiment could be improved if I used a heat pack that never cooled out. To sum it up, mealworms prefer cold, dry, low elevated environments.