A student investigated whether ants dig more tunnels in the light or in the dark. She thought that ants used the filtered light that penetrated the upper layers of earth and would dig more tunnels during the daytime. Ten ant colonies were set up in commercial ant farms with the same number and type of ants per ant farm. The same amount of food was given to each colony, and the colonies were in the same temperature. Five of the colonies were exposed to normal room light and five were covered with black construction paper so they did not receive light. Every other day for three weeks the length of the tunnels was measured in millimeter using a string and a ruler. Averages for the light and dark groups for I each measured were then computed. The averages are listed in the following chart.

Length of Tunnels(mm) constructed by Ants in different Light conditions
Day. Light. Dark
1 5 7
3 10 15
5 20 25
7 26 32
9 32 47
11 50 62
13 61 93
15 66 110
17 90 115
19 95 120
21 103 136

Q1. List all materials needed to do this experiment.

Q2. Promblem:

Q3. Hypotheses:

Q4. Write a support or non-support of hypotheses.

Q5. Independent Value:

Q6. Dependent Value:

Q7. Is there a control? If so...what is it?

Q8. Sources of Experimental Error:

Source of light, measuring tool (the string and ruler), ant food, ant farms
Whether or not the tunnels created by ants differ in length depending on the amount of light available
More tunnels are dug by ants during the daylight hours
The hypotheses will probably come out to be true since ants are usually hiding away from predators during the night
The presence of light
The length of a particular tunnel
Perform a trial under normal conditions (room light)
Inaccuracy or inconsistency in measurements