experiment design

[martyn]

HI everyone i need some help. we have to design an experiment to examine the following:

do goldfish prefer to attack groups of daphnia or individuals.

we are provided with 5 fish, 5 plastic tanks, tank dividers, boiling tubes, a sieve, stop watchers and pipettes.

how can we set the experiment out do any of you have any good ideas ?

Thank you.

[Darby]

First, it's obvious that the instructor has a design in their head. Think about what you can do with those particular materials.

[martyn]

I was thinking dividing each tank with the fish on one side and a load of daphnia on the other and timing how long it takes for an attack but im not sure how to represent the results and anylize then them statisticly anyone have any advice

[mith]

Here's one way, have your daphnia already in the tank, then dump in one goldfish. Record time between dumping and time for goldfish to approach it. Then repeat for dumping a group.

[martyn]

Thanks mate , How would i show my results i am nor sure how to design the graph what should go on the axis etc ? How can i statistly anylize the results ?

[mith]

Well, the x-axis is the independent, so what are you actively changing in the trials?

the dependent is your measurement of how likely the goldfish is to attack the prey.

[martyn]

I was thinking maybe putting daphnia into the tank then adding the fish and recording when ever the fish ate the daphnia and adding water fleas as they were consumed and end the trail when th fish stops eating will that be good ? how would i put that into a graph though ?

[mith]

Well, note that the ultimate goal is to measure the tendency to attack groups or individuals. Make sure you know how to explain your results in those terms.