Question

shooting the poop (cer) (adapted from nsta) question: why do caterpillars fling their frass? experimental design: caterpillars were raised in individual containers where they could build shelters. one had a \clean\ treatment where frass (caterpillar poop) was removed daily from the container. the other had a \frassy\ treatment which allowed frass to accumulate in the container throughout development. she measured the mass of 61 caterpillars in year 1 (~30 in each treatment) and 50 caterpillars in year 2 (25 in each treatment). 1. what claim can be made from the collected data? 2. what is the independent variable? what is the dependent variable? 3. summarize the evidence that supports the claim.

Explanation:

Step1: Analyze data

Caterpillars in clean - treatment had higher average mass.

Step2: Identify variables

Independent: frass presence/removal. Dependent: caterpillar mass.

Step3: Summarize evidence

Higher mass in clean - treatment across ages in both years.

Answer:

1. Caterpillars in the clean treatment tend to have a higher average mass.
2. Independent variable: Whether frass is removed (clean vs frassy treatment). Dependent variable: Average caterpillar mass.
3. Caterpillars in the clean treatment had greater average mass at various ages in both Year 1 and Year 2.