Can Crickets Tell the Temperature PDF

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Lab Assignment. Final lab of the Fall 2019 Semester...

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Olivia Cray Dr. Mosca-Focht Lab Assignment 11/26/19

Can Crickets Tell the Temperature? Question: Some say that if you listen to the sound of a cricket chirping, you can determine the temperature. Is this true or is it just an urban (science) legend? Do any other factors affect how fast a cricket will chirp, such as humidity, wind, atmospheric pressure, or nearby crickets? Procedure: You will use a virtual lab to test a cricket subject. Site: http://biol.co/cricketsci Lab Report should include: 1. Question: Can Crickets Tell the temperature?

2. Hypothesis. State your prediction then be sure to identify which of your variables are dependent/ which independent. 3. . Data tables - organize your data into easy to read tables and/or graphs. (Be sure to take enough data to draw conclusions) There are sample data tables here. 4. . Analysis - state your conclusions where you answer the experimental question. Indicate whether you support or reject your hypothesis. BE CLEAR in your analysis about what factors affected cricket chirps and exactly HOW chirps were affected (show a relationship - increased, decrease...etc.) Incorporate the data from your tables. This should be your longest answer therefore worth the most.

Olivia Cray Dr. Mosca-Focht Lab Assignment 11/26/19

The report and tables will both be handed in

Olivia Cray Dr. Mosca-Focht Lab Assignment 11/26/19

DATA Tables;

Effect of Wind Speed on Cricket Chirp Rate Wind Speed (m/sec)

Chirp Rate (chirps/min)

Effect of Nearby Crickets on Cricket Chirp Rate Wind Speed (m/sec)

Effect of Temperature on Cricket Chirp Rate

Chirp Rate (chirps/min)

Temperature (Celsius)

Chirp Rate (chirps/min)

0

148

2

148

5

4

1

148

2

148

10

40

2

148

2

148

15

76

3

148

2

148

20

112

4

148

2

148

25

148

5

148

2

148

30

184

6

148

2

148

35

220

7

148

2

148

40

256

8

148

2

148

45

292

Effect of Atmospheric on Cricket Chirp Rate Pressure Chirp Rate (mm Hg) (chirps/min) 680 148 690

148

700

148

710

148

720

148

730

148

740

148

750

148

760

148

Effect of Humidity on Cricket Chirp Rate Humidity Chirp Rate (%) (chirps/min) 10 148 20

148

30

148

40

148

50

148

60

148

70

148

80

148

Olivia Cray Dr. Mosca-Focht Lab Assignment 11/26/19

Lab Report:

The point of this experiment is to determine if crickets can tell temperature. My hypothesis was if the air temperature increases, then the chirping rate of crickets will decrease in frequency. This is because, based on the “collect information” portion of the virtual lab, it is revealed that the most common chirp pattern is used by male crickets to attract females. With that information in mind, it makes more sense to initially believe that the cricket chirp rate would increase based on the number of crickets in an area as they vie for a mate. Through experimentation, however, I can safely say this does not appear to be the case and thus the experimental results do not support my hypothesis. There are various variables included in this experiment. The independent variable in finding out the relationship between cricket chirp rates and temperature is very obviously the air temperature, the likes of which are measured in Celsius and range from 5 degrees to 45 degrees in intervals of 5 for the 9 trials performed. The other factors remain constant to create a similar and neutral environment, forming our control group consisting of atmospheric pressure, humidity, the number of nearby crickets and wind speed. The atmospheric pressure in this group stands firm at 760 mm, the humidity is a solid 15%, the wind speed is 2m/sec and the number of crickets in this group is 5. Conclusion Questions 1) Which of the factors determines the chirping rate in crickets? Air Temperature 2) If you increase the air temperature, the chirp rate will: Increasing the air temperature will increase the chirp rate. From 5 degrees Celsius to only 10 degrees Celsius, which is double the amount of degrees, the chirp rate increased by more than half, going from 4 chirps per minute to 40 chirps per minute. 3)If you double the air temperature, the chirp rate will: Doubling the air temperature will not double the chirp rate but the chirp rate will increase. At 20 degrees Celsius, the chirp rate was recorded at 112. At 40 degrees Celsius, double the original temperature, the chirp rate increased by 144, more than half that of the original chirp rate. 4)Assume the cricket is chirping at a rate of 148 chirps per minute and slows to a rate of 10 chirps per minute. Could this change in behavior be explained by either an increase in the temperature or a drop in the wind speed? As evidenced by the experiments, an increase in temperatures leads to an increase in cricket chirp rates per minute. Thus, an increase in temperature would not slow the rate of

Olivia Cray Dr. Mosca-Focht Lab Assignment 11/26/19

chirps from 148 chirps per minute to 10 chirps per minute. Additionally, wind speed had no effect on the number of chirps per minute. At 0m/sec, the cricket chirp rate remained the same 148 chirps per minute that it did at 1m/sec or 7m/sec, which was the greatest measurement of wind speed allowed in the experiment. 5) Could this change in behavior be explained by both the air pressure and the humidity increasing? Much like wind speed, air pressure and humidity were not measured to have any noticeable effect on the cricket chirp rate, even when increasing by almost double the starting rate for both variables. At 680 mm, the air pressure registered 148 cricket chirps per second which remains the same at its greatest measure valued 760 mm. For humidity, at its lowest point of 10%, the chirp rate is 148 per minute which remains the same even at its highest measured percent of 80%.

All research does indicate a close relationship between cricket chirp rates and the air temperature, but the experiment could benefit greatly from a larger sample pool of crickets...