I chose to investigate the behaviour of woodlice in a wet or dry environment.

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David Bennett

11DSM

Coursework: Behaviour of Wood Lice

When Offered a choice Between

Wet and Dry

        In the experiment I was offered the choice to investigate the behaviour of woodlice in a wet or dry environment or a light or dark environment. I chose to investigate the behaviour of woodlice in a wet or dry environment.

        

        Woodlice belong to the biological class crustacea. Most of the animals in this class are aquatic, and though the terrestrial species can breathe with the aid of primitive ‘lungs’ they lack the features found in most other land-dwelling arthropods. They have no waterproof waxy cuticle on their exo-skeleton and are therefore more likely to suffer from dessication compared with other arthropods such as insects which have a well developed waxy layer. These animals excrete their nitrogenous waste as ammonia gas directly thorough their exo-skeleton (rather than as urea or uric acid).This means that their exo-skeleton needs to be permeable to ammonia and is therefore also permeable to water vapour.

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        In my experiment I am testing whether the woodlice prefer the environment to be wet or dry. I predict that they will prefer it wet rather than dry. I think this because when you find them in the wild, they are in dark damp places like under big rocks or a log.

Method

        First of all in my experiment I will set up a ‘choice chamber’ with wet cotton wool under one side and keeping it dry on the other. I will putt a bit of netting over the top so the woodlice can walk over it. We ...

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