The hypothesis stating if certain stimuli (light, darkness, bran flakes, and apple slices) are placed in a chamber near a group of ten mealworms, then during 3 minutes a portion of the mealworms will have moved towards the stimuli, was refuted by the data showing how zero mealworms migrated into the stimulus chamber, during any point in any of the trials using each of the stimuli and the one trial without using a stimulus.
Discussion
The student designed experiment to investigate a mealworm’s response to a variable had the same results for each trial. During the first trial, a flashlight’s light was shone in the stimulus chamber and zero of the ten mealworms moved into the stimulus chamber in one minute, two minutes, or three minutes. …show more content…
During the fourth trial two halves of an apple slice were placed in the stimulus chamber and zero of the ten mealworms moved into the stimulus chamber in one minute, two minutes, or three minutes. In the fifth and final trial, the stimulus chamber was emptied and had no stimuli inside. During the fifth trial, zero mealworms moved into the stimulus chamber in one minute, two minutes, or three minutes. The fifth trial was the control group in the experiment. The results of the experiment show mealworms are not always drawn to stimuli when the stimuli are just placed near the mealworms. Mealworms will not always go towards a stimulus nearby the mealworms. The results could also mean a three minute time period is not long enough for mealworms to react to a stimulus’ presence. Finally, the results of the experiment could mean the group of ten mealworms used were not as easily attracted to the stimuli used as other mealworms. Mealworms are shown to eat fruits, like the apple in the experiment, and cereal, like the bran flakes in the experiment. Mealworms are also attracted to darkness, like the darkness provided by