Abstract

1. A SWEET TREAT FOR THE CATERPILLARS The Food Processors Puru Bagga, Tiffany Chen, Jordan Davide, Andy Gonzalez, Neuton Richardson, and Dina Tazkarji The Effect of Fructose on Development • Methods • Gather the ingredients and then label all the containers, T1-T16 (purple), and C1-C16 (brown). • Fill a graduated cylinder to 15 ml of water and pour the water from graduated cylinder into a clear glass beaker. • Add fructose and stir until the water can’t dissolve anymore, making it saturated. • Cut off the plastic wrapping from the food containers and label 2 of them C and 2 of them T. • Take a thermometer out of its package and place it in its beaker. Take the temperature of the water and record it. • Put 6.5 grams of food into the caterpillar containers, control group. Use an electronic scale to check that it is exactly 6.5 grams. • Then flatten out the food so it would look like a “floor.” Afterwards, place caps onto the containers, but not completely so the caterpillars can breathe. • Repeat these steps until all the containers hold 6.5 grams of food in them. • Add 7 drops of water into all the control containers. • Repeat this step with saturated water and the treatment group. • Use a paintbrush, put 1 caterpillar into 1 container. • Repeat this step with all other containers, 16 in control, and 16 in treatment. • Place the containers in a designated area and observe and record the data for the next few weeks. • Materials • In this project, the materials we used were: a butterfly kit containing caterpillars, food and containers, two wax pencils, one pair of scissors, one roll of tape, two small plastic containers, one small bolt of cheese cloth, 2 thermometers, two spoons, an electronic balance, fructose, a glass stirring rod, a beaker, a graduated cylinder, construction paper, and wooden sticks. • Abstract • In our experiment we received 32 Painted Lady Butterflies and kept each in an individual container. There were 16 caterpillars in the control group and 16 caterpillars in the treatment group. The treatment group contained fructose inside of their food. Soon they became cocoons and we had to put them atop of a foldable paper. Everyday we recorded our data and observed the caterpillars, 1 caterpillar in the control group died and 4 in the treatment group died. According to the chi-square test, there was no significant difference between the treatment and the control group. • Problem Statement • Does fructose affect the life cycle of the caterpillars? • Hypothesis: • Null : The fructose will not affect the life cycle of the caterpillars. • Alternative : Yes, the fructose will affect the life cycle of the caterpillars. It will affect their diet, which might cause the caterpillars to die. • Background Info • Name: Painted Lady • Scientific Name: Vanessa Car dui • Life Cycle: • Egg: 3 to 5 days: • Larva: 5 to 10 days: • Metamorphosis (Chrysalis): 7 to 10 days • The butterfly emerges: 2 weeks • Fun Facts: • Butterflies need the sun to fly • The male painted lady butterflies have smaller abdomen than the females • The butterflies favorite flowers are asters, cosmoses, thistle and buttonbush • Butterflies have taste sensors on their feet Lived or Died Results 5 of our caterpillars died. 4 in the Treatment group died and 1 in the control group. The average temperature for all the caterpillars was 24 degrees Celsius. Chi-Square Test Days to Pupation Discussion Our problem statement was does fructose affect the life cycle of the caterpillars. Our null hypothesis was that the fructose will not affect the life cycle of the caterpillars and our alternative hypothesis was yes, the fructose will affect the life cycle of the caterpillars. Our results showed that there was no significant difference between the treatment group (fructose) and the control group. That means that our null hypothesis was correct and our alternative hypothesis was incorrect. In total, 5 of our Painted Lady Butterflies died, 1 in control, and 4 in treatment. From this, we can tell that the fructose did not necessarily affect the growth, but we did notice that more of the treatment group died then the control group, but since there was no significant difference it’s not that important. It took 19-21 days for the Painted Lady Butterflies to leave their cocoons in both the control and the treatment group. It’s possible that the food already prepared for the caterpillars contain fructose already and the extra added did not affect their metabolism. Another possibility was that we did not add enough fructose into the food. If we had added more, it’s possible that there would have been a significant difference. A difficulty in this experiment was that it was very hard to distinguish whether the caterpillars were dead or alive when they were reaching the cocoon stage. When the caterpillars were beginning to come out, they would start to shake and fall down from the foldable. To fix this problem, next time we might try to make the foldable more stable by taping it onto the bottom of the box. From this project, we were able to experience raising live Painted Lady Butterflies and be able to watch it grow through its different phases.