Mock Experiment
Question: The Importance of Prey (i.e small reptiles and insects) on Eastern American Toads lives
Abstract
Ever since the extinction of the Golden Toad and the dwindling population of frogs, scientists have been intensely studying these tailless amphibians, and looking into the factors that are slowly killing off these, for the most part, harmless and innocent animals. In the past, scientists have looked into things like temperature, air pollution, and predators affecting toads' lifespan. I thought it would be interesting to look into toads' dependence on other species. Maybe it's the dying off of other small amphibians and insects that are having a domino effect on toads, leading them down the path of extinction. If frogs no longer have anything to feed off of, they will quickly become extinct due to lack of energy and proper nutrients being absorbed into their body. This experiment will explore the ability for frogs to survive without their usual source of food.
Hypothesis
If an Eastern American Toad has access to prey, then they will live longer than a toad with nothing to feed on, because they will have more energy and nutrients in their system to survive.
Materials
1. 2 isolated rooms.
2. 200 gallons of water.
3. 100 pound of dirt.
4. 100 pounds of grass,
5. 20 Eastern American Toads.
6. 100 flies.
7. 100 worms.
8. 1 Thermostat.
Procedure
1. Take two groups of Eastern American Toads, each with 10 toads.
2. Create two artificial environments for the toads, one like their natural habitat, i.e an indoor body of water (consisting of 100 gallons of water) with a section of grass and dirt outside water. Temperature should be set to 65º fahrenheit.
3. In first environment, release 100 insects. While releasing none in the second environment.
4. After 10 days, record how many frogs are still alive and active in each environment.
5. Record data, and compare amount of living frogs between each environments.
Abstract
Ever since the extinction of the Golden Toad and the dwindling population of frogs, scientists have been intensely studying these tailless amphibians, and looking into the factors that are slowly killing off these, for the most part, harmless and innocent animals. In the past, scientists have looked into things like temperature, air pollution, and predators affecting toads' lifespan. I thought it would be interesting to look into toads' dependence on other species. Maybe it's the dying off of other small amphibians and insects that are having a domino effect on toads, leading them down the path of extinction. If frogs no longer have anything to feed off of, they will quickly become extinct due to lack of energy and proper nutrients being absorbed into their body. This experiment will explore the ability for frogs to survive without their usual source of food.
Hypothesis
If an Eastern American Toad has access to prey, then they will live longer than a toad with nothing to feed on, because they will have more energy and nutrients in their system to survive.
Materials
1. 2 isolated rooms.
2. 200 gallons of water.
3. 100 pound of dirt.
4. 100 pounds of grass,
5. 20 Eastern American Toads.
6. 100 flies.
7. 100 worms.
8. 1 Thermostat.
Procedure
1. Take two groups of Eastern American Toads, each with 10 toads.
2. Create two artificial environments for the toads, one like their natural habitat, i.e an indoor body of water (consisting of 100 gallons of water) with a section of grass and dirt outside water. Temperature should be set to 65º fahrenheit.
3. In first environment, release 100 insects. While releasing none in the second environment.
4. After 10 days, record how many frogs are still alive and active in each environment.
5. Record data, and compare amount of living frogs between each environments.