PROJECT DESCRIPTION
For first semester's project, we are focusing on learning about aquarium conditions and fish species in order to translate our skills to the second half of our project. Each group, composed of 5 students, was given a tank in our classroom to work with, and conduct an experiment on. These ranged from checking water quality, to measuring the association fish form between food and stimuli.
WHO'S IN THE GROUP?
ANIMAL BEHAVIORISTHi, I'm Claudia Sevilla! I research and monitor our fish's behavior.
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GRAPHIC DESIGNERHi, I'm Kira Cortez! I create graphic designs for our poster and website.
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PUBLICISTHi, I'm Fransisco Solis! I conduct outreach to businesses for equipment.
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WATER ANALYSTHi, I'm Noah Wilson! I monitor and analyze the water quality of our tank.
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MATERIALS ENGINEERHi, I'm Dahlia Suiter! I run and manage the working parts of our tank.
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OUR EXPERIMENT
RESEARCH QUESTION
How does introducing a stimulus to the environment influence feeding behavior and memory?
HYPOTHESES
Hypothesis: Introducing a stimulus to the tank will cause fish to approach the object.
Alternative Hypothesis: Introducing a stimulus to the tank will cause fish to swim away from the object.
Null Hypothesis: Introducing a stimulus to the tank will have no effect on fish behavior.
Alternative Hypothesis: Introducing a stimulus to the tank will cause fish to swim away from the object.
Null Hypothesis: Introducing a stimulus to the tank will have no effect on fish behavior.
INDEPENDENT VARIABLE |
DEPENDENT VARIABLE |
CONTROL VARIABLES |
A blue block that we place in the tank.
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Time (how long it takes for the fish to approach the object)
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Time we do our experiment (11 AM), water temperature (80 degrees), food type (flake)
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LITERATURE REVIEW
Through our internet research, we learned that fish are more intelligent than we had previously thought. That led us to question the common belief that fish only have 3 second memories. After reading numerous articles and studies about the subject, we concluded that fish do not have 3 second memories; instead, they can remember details about feeding for several months. In one study, fish were removed from their home pools for 40 days, and could still remember the location of surrounding pools after those 40 days. The wild rainbowfish can actually associate food with a stimulus over 14 trials, whereas rats can take over 30 trials to do the same. This shows that fish can “learn” rather quickly, and have the capacity for stimulus-food association.
After reading about other scientists’ research, we decided to conduct our own experiment to find out if our frontosas could make a stimulus-food association. If proven, it could lead to further exploration of fish memory and food association.
Our particular experiment was based on an experiment by Rory Stokes, a student from the Australian Science and Mathematics School. He placed a blue toy brick in water whenever he fed his goldfish, to form an association between the food and the brick. Over 3 weeks, the fish swam to the object faster, even before the food was placed in the tank. He took out the stimulus for a week, and when he reintroduced it, the fish still quickly swam to it, indicating that memory could be the cause.
After reading about other scientists’ research, we decided to conduct our own experiment to find out if our frontosas could make a stimulus-food association. If proven, it could lead to further exploration of fish memory and food association.
Our particular experiment was based on an experiment by Rory Stokes, a student from the Australian Science and Mathematics School. He placed a blue toy brick in water whenever he fed his goldfish, to form an association between the food and the brick. Over 3 weeks, the fish swam to the object faster, even before the food was placed in the tank. He took out the stimulus for a week, and when he reintroduced it, the fish still quickly swam to it, indicating that memory could be the cause.
Methods
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Results
Discussion
- Although our fish appeared to be swimming to the stimulus faster over time, from about 60 seconds to 30 seconds, we believe that the fish were actually just getting more comfortable with feeding.
- This is evidenced by them responding at 30 seconds, which is when we put food in the tank.
- We believe this because the fish did not swim up to the stimulus when we placed it in the tank, but instead when we fed them.
- Our data and observations support our null hypothesis, since the fish do seem react to food, but not the stimulus.
Next Steps
We believe that we could have obtained different results, if we had controlled some confounding variables. Overall, we would have liked to spend more time training the fish, as well as have the same person feed the fish every trial. Additionally, shelter and dividers for our tank could be added. Lastly, fish behavior is often unpredictable, so any experiments can be inconsistent.
Confounding variables:
Confounding variables:
- time spent training
- inconsistency for who fed the fish
- shelter
- dividers to isolate fish
- fish behavior is unpredictable