Scientific Method: The Pill bug
Christi Camper
Biology 101-303

Introduction Pill bugs scientifically known as Isopods are common crustaceans that live on land. Pill bugs have an exoskeleton consisting of overlapping plates that make them look like little armadillos. As pill bugs grow, they molt four or five times during a lifetime. A pill bug can roll up into such a tight ball that its legs and head are no longer visible, earning it the nickname “roly-poly.” They have three body parts: head, thorax, and abdomen. The head bears compound eyes and two pairs of antennae. The thorax bears pairs of walking legs; gills are located at the top of the first five pairs. The gills must be kept slightly moist, which explains why pill bugs are usually found in damp places. The final pair of appendages, the uropods, which are sensory and defensive in function, project from the abdomen of the animal. (Mader, 2013). Pill bugs are commonly found in damp leaf litter, under rocks, and in basements or crawl spaces under houses. Following an inactive winter, pill bugs mate in the spring. Several weeks later, the eggs hatch and remain for six weeks in a brood pouch on the underside of the female’s body. Once they leave the pouch, they eat primarily dead organic matter, including decaying leaves. Therefore, they are easy to find and maintain in a moist terrarium with leaf liter, rocks and wood chips. (Mader, 2013). The purpose of the lab was to use the Scientific Method to test whether pill bugs are attracted to, repelled by or is unresponsive to particular substances, which are potential foods. My group hypothesized that the pill bug would be attracted to fish food, because they consume foods with smell, and applesauce and coffee-mate, because of the sweet and wet with a smell and water because it’s wet like the pill bug’s environment.

Equipment Used
Pill bug
Petri dish
Fish food
Baking Soda
Sand (control)
Applesauce
Coffee
Water (control)
Spray bottle of distilled water
Procedure
The substance that was placed in the Petri dish was fish food. Afterwards the pill bug was placed into the Petri dish. The pill bug was unresponsive to the fish food. Baking soda was placed into the Petri dish and the pill bug was repelled by it. When placed into a Petri dish with sand, applesauce and coffee-mate, separately, the pill bug was unresponsive. During the final test the poll bug was repelled by the water; as a result it walked away.
Results
Table 1.1
Substance Hypothesis About Reason For Hypothesis Pill bug’s Response
1. Fish Food attracted to they consume food s with smell
2. Baking Soda repelled to no taste and smell
3. Sand (control) unresponsive no taste and smell
Results (cont’d)
Table 1.1
Substance Hypothesis About Reason For Hypothesis Pill bug’s Response
4. Applesauce attracted sweet, wet, smell
5. Coffee