What Crawling Animals are in your yard?

What you'll Need

Instructions

1. Find as many brightly colored red or yellow bowls (disposable or reusable) as you want to use. Bugs can only see a limited range of colors, so these colors work best. Don't believe me? Experiment using bowls of different colors and see how many bugs you catch in each. If you can't find colored bowls, feel free to color them with a water resistant marker (like a Sharpie).

2. fill an empty soda bottle with water and add 10 or more squirts of dish soap. Invert the bottle a few times to mix in the soap, but don't make the mixture too bubbly.

3. Check with your parents about locations in your yard where you can dig small, shallow holes to place your bowl. Make sure they are away from where pets or small children can reach.

4. Take the bowls and water outside to where you want to set your trap. Dig a small hole so that the edge of your bowl is at the same level as the ground. Fill the bowl with the soapy water solution to about half and inch from the top of the bowl. Note: if you fill the bowl completely, many types of bugs can easily escape your trap.

5. Leave your bowl for at least one day. When you go back, ensure all bugs have died (I don't want anyone to get stung by something) and drained off the majority of the soap water. You can keep your bugs in the bowl or pour them into a sandwich bag.

6. Move your specimens to an area with bright light where you can easily inspect them. If you have a magnifying glass, or have made our DIY microscope, these will help your observations. Record as detailed a description of your specimens as you can in your lab notebook and include photos when possible. You can use the Bug ID Field Guide and the internet to try and identify what type of bugs you are looking at.

7. Discard of your specimens and bowls in the trash and fill any holes you dug.

8. Post your findings to the Lab Notebook blog and ask questions about unknown bugs to the Ask a Question page.

The Science

How it Works

• The soap in the water reduces how tightly the water molecules stick together (reducing the surface tension). Many bugs are light and often walk across water without sinking because the surface tension can hold them up. When we add the soap, the surface tension decreases and the bugs sink. Unfortunately, the bugs will die, but there are many bugs in the world and we are using them for science.

Experiment Ideas

• Use different bowl colors. Use bowls of various colors (the more the better) and place them in similar environments. Do you see any differences in how many bugs are in each color? This may tell you about what color bugs can see best. Do you see differences in the kinds of bugs found in each color bowl? This may tell you about what color a particular species of bug sees best.

• Place your bowls in different environments. Think about the soil type, plants nearby, ground cover, and moisture of where you are putting your bowls. Do you get more bugs in certain environments than others? Do you only find certain types of bugs that are shaded or by specific plants?

Lab Notebook

• Describe how you set up your experiment. Record the bowl color, the type of area you put it in, when you put the bowl outside, and when you collected your specimens.

• Before you look in your bowl, make a prediction. What do you think you will find when you recover your specimens? Do you think there will be a pattern in the number or kinds of bugs you find? Do you think the bowl color, environment, or other factor will change the number or type of bugs you observe? MOST IMPORTANTLY record your thinking for why you made these predictions.

• Record your observations. This is the most fun part of an experiment. Draw, write, diagram, or take photos explaining what you saw when you collected your specimens. Include anything you think might be important or good to remember in the future.

• Experimental outcome. Think about what you predicted you would see when you recovered your bowls. Were you right? If so, what did you observe that agrees with your prediction. Were you wrong? What did you see that disagreed with what you expected and how might you explain what you saw?