Essay Example on The Effect of Sugar Concentrations

Concentrations of sugar higher than those chosen in Dussutour and Simpson s experiment were chosen to be tested to gage if ants would continue to choose a higher concentration solution despite higher than average sugar levels It was hypothesized that ants given the choice to feed on one of three sugar water solutions diluted to 50 sugar 25 sugar or 12 5 sugar and a water control will feed most frequently from solutions with higher concentrations of sugar The null hypothesis was that ants given the choice to feed on one of three sugar water solutions mentioned above and a water control will feed least frequently from solutions with higher concentrations of sugar Thus it can be predicted that if ants were to feed on one of three sugar water solutions diluted to 50 sugar 25 sugar or 12 5 sugar and a water control during three periods of five minutes then the highest concentration of ants would be found feeding from the 50 sugar solutions followed by the 25 sugar solution and the 12 5 sugar solution The null prediction is that if ants were to feed on one of three sugar water solutions diluted to levels mentioned above and a water control during three periods of five minutes then the highest concentration of ants would be found feeding from the 12 5 sugar solutions followed by the 25 sugar solution and the 50 sugar solution 

After this two more identical trials were completed The number of ants feeding from the sugar water solutions was recorded in the data table below The average number of ants that fed from each sugar water solution was found The independent variable includes the concentrations of sugar in the sugar water solutions These treatment groups include samples of 50 sugar 25 sugar and 12 5 sugar The dependent variable is the number ants that feed on a specific sample of diluted sugar water 50 sugar 25 sugar and 12 5 sugar over three five minute periods The negative control treatment is a sample of water that does not contain sugar The control variables include the type of ants collected the amount of sugar water distributed in each five minute period the amount of time in each testing period the type of sugar used for each experimental group and the time of day