Pill Bugs (And Their Cousins -Sow Bugs)

Pill Bugs (and their cousins -Sow Bugs)

Prelab: Answer the following questions in complete sentences on a piece of Binder Paper. 1. A Pill bug is in the Phylum Arthropoda. Using your textbook, find out what subphylum a Pill Bug is in. (Hint: It is not an Insect) 2. Draw a picture of a Pill Bug. Include a top (dorsal) view and carefully roll it over for a bottom (ventral) view. Label: Head, Eyes, Antenna, Thorax, Legs, and Abdomen 3. Describe how your Pill Bug moves. What does it do when you touch it? Does it move fast of slow? 4. Do you think your Pill Bug can see well? Place an object in front of the Pill Bug, does a reaction occur? What if the object is moving? 5. Measure the length and width (in mm) of your Pill Bugs. (Remember the metric system is used in science). 6. How many legs does the Pill Bug have? How many Body Segments?

Activity: Determine what type of habitat the Pill Bug and Sow Bug prefer.

Using Petri Dishes, make two habitats: one for the Pill Bugs and one for the Sow Bugs. You will be testing a specific habitat and sharing your findings with the other lab groups. Divide each Petri Dish into half and test your 2 varying environments. Place your animals in the middle of the two environments and record what half of your Petri dish the animal chose. Complete 3 trials for each bug. Your teacher will tell you what you are testing.

Copy the Chart on to your binder paper. As you rotate around the room, complete the chart below. Place an “X” in the box if the animal chose that habitat. Habitat Hiker Behavior (Sow Bug) Roller Behavior (Pill Bug) Side A/B Trial 1 Trail 2 Trial 3 Trial 1 Trail 2 Trial 3 A. Dry B. Moist A. Red Floor B. Blue Floor A. Light B. Dark A. Cold B. Hot A. Food ______B. Food ______

Conclusion: Answer in complete sentences on your paper. 1. What habitats did both the Sow Bugs and Pill Bugs like? 2. What habitats did they both NOT like? 3. Based on this behavior, could you find the 2 species living in the same habitat? What would this habitat be like? 4. How do the Pill Bug and Sow Bug differ in appearance? 5. What other test/experiment could you have preformed on these animals?