Maggots Lab

Emma 7A

December 5, 20ll

Guiding Question:  How will temperature effect the development of maggots into flies?

Hypothesis:  I think that the maggots will develop faster in the cold than in the heat.

Variables you will change: The temperature where the maggots are kept will change. (One group of maggots will be in the classroom at room temperature and one group of maggots will be in the refrigerator.)

Controlled Variables:  The plastic containers for the maggots and what they include will be the same in both groups.

Exploration -

Materials:
- 16 maggots
- dirt
- water
- leaves
- 2 plastic containers
- branches
- food (tuna fish)
- Tin foil

- 2 rubber bands

Procedure:

1. Find 2 identical plastic containers

2. Add an equal amount of dirt, sticks and water to each of the 2 containers

3. Put 8 maggots in each container

4. Place tin foil on top so the maggots do not get out

5. Secure the foil with a rubber band

6. Poke small holes on top of the tin foil so the maggots can breath

7. Label the containers so they don’t get mixed up Frigus= cold

Calidis = warm or hot

8.  Place the frigus one in the cold area of a refrigerator and the leave the calidis one at room temperature in a place safe in the classroom

9.  After flies appear, add food to container

 Record & Analyze –

Observation 1
The maggot container in the refrigerator named frigus or cold is more moist than calidis or hot container of maggots in the classroom.  Also one of the maggots that we saw in frigus container was in a cocoon getting ready to transform to a fly. We cannot see the ones in calidis container. Also, in the calidis container there is fungus, there is no fungus in frigus container.

Observation 2

The two containers look a bit different but not too much. We did notice that the calidis is dryer than the figus which is very moist.  We believe that most of the maggots are in cocoons, but not all. In the calidis container, there is also more fungus now. It is spreading onto the leaves and not only the sticks.

Observation 3
 
Today we noticed that all of the maggots in frigus container are in cocoons and their cocoons are turning red.  It is still very moist in the frigus.  The calidis container is very dry and it is all covered in mold. Also it seems to be decaying.

Observation 4 
 
Today we saw that in the calidis container, one maggot has formed into a fly.  Also, more mold is growing.  In the frigus container, the maggots are still in their cocoons and it is still very damp.

Observation 5
 
In the calidis container, we now have eight flies. However, one of them got out. We have seven in the container.  We also noticed that the mold in the calidis container is disappearing. We think that they are eating it. In the frigus container, it all looks the same. It is still moist and no sign of flies.     

Observation 6

In the calidis container there were six flies alive.  Now two flies got but did not die. In the frigus container nothing happened yet.  The frigus is still moist. Since we have not seen any differences, we decided to leave it out of the refrigerator to see if it would have any changes.

Observation 7 

In the frigus container, all the maggots died and none turned into fly in the end.  In the calidis, five of the six remaining flies died and the one that was still alive we let go free.

Analysis of Data – 

What I saw in my data was that the cold, damp environment in the refrigerator made it quite hard for the maggots to survive.  It seems that the frigus maggots did not want to come out of their cocoons.  Maybe this was because it was too cold for them or they had died due to the cold temperature.  I also found it interesting that the sample in the refrigerator did not grow any mold while the one in the classroom did.

Concept Acquisition (conclusion)- I think that the maggots will develop faster in the cold than in the heat.  I thought that temperature would affect the development of maggots into flies.  It does but not the way I thought it would.  My prediction was not correct since no flies grew in the cold.   All the maggots in the refrigerator when into their little cocoons and died.  All the maggots in the classroom, also went into their cocoons and came out as flies.  I learned that maggots develop into flies faster and better in a warm climate than in a cold one.

Concept Application (further inquiry) – We had trouble observing the maggots in the frigus container because it had much more soil, leaves, and sticks than the calidis container.  Next time I would measure the dirt and other materials to make absolutely sure that each container had the exact same amount.  Also, although my partner and I knew there was one larger hole on the top of the containers other than the breathing holes, we didn’t think it was so big that the flies could get out.  Taking before and after photos would have made my lab report more interesting too.  My new hypothesis would be that maggots should grow faster in warmer climates.