Pre-Lab: Termite Tracks
Problem How can you determine the type of stimulus that triggers a particular response?
Materials petri dishes, paper, scissors, termites, small paintbrushes, forceps, ballpoint pens, rollerball pens, felt-tip pens
Lab Manual Chapter 29 Lab
Skills Focus Form a Hypothesis, Design an Experiment, Draw Conclusions
Connect to the Animals react to their environments as they search for food, avoid predators, and look for a mate. The survival of a species can depend on these behaviors. Some behaviors are inherited and evolve over time due to natural selection. Over many generations, behaviors that help animals survive spread through a population. Behaviors that are not adaptive become less common. In this lab, you will observe an inherited behavior of termites. Then you will design an experiment to determine the type of stimulus that triggers the behavior.
Review How is a behavior usually defined?
Explain How do innate behaviors, or instincts, help animals survive?
Infer You see an ant walk across the ground. A minute later, you see another ant walk in the same exact line. What type of communication do you think is taking place?
Preview the procedure in the lab manual.
Control Variables Why do you think the instructions ask you to draw a figure eight rather than a straight line?
Draw Conclusions How will you decide whether a termite has a positive reaction, a negative reaction, or no reaction to a stimulus?
Predict Read pages 850–851 of your textbook. Which of the signals described could be a stimulus for the termite in this lab? Explain your answer.
Visit Chapter 29 online to test yourself on chapter content and to find activities to help you learn.
Untamed Science Video See how the latest technologies help the explorers from Untamed Science track the movements of different animals.
Data Analysis See how researchers improve understanding of animal migration behavior by improving data collection technology.
Tutor Tube Instinct? Sorting out everyday and scientific behavior terms.
Art Review Identify animal communications strategies.
Art in Motion Watch social behavior in a population.