Additionally, here is our presentation all about our experiment and results with Ricky and Sticky.
http://prezi.com/g-kvgjcol1zz/ricky-and-sticky/
Mibango!
(enjoy!)
Saturday, April 9, 2011
As our time together comes to a close, I am observing lil' Ricky and Sticky's interactions with each other. Currently they are underneath the paper towel bedding, and they have been there since Thursday. These bugs really don't move around very much. They are playing a little antenna tag, however.
I really do wonder what they are thinking about as they sit, wiggle their antennas, and then start climbing on each other. Are they friends? Do cockroaches have big enough brains to feel a brotherly connection?
I just learned from National Geographic, that the hissing from the hissing cockroaches comes from a swift exhale of air from the abdomen of the roach. Also, this hissing is used in the mating ritual and to determine roach hierarchy.
Additionally, Madagascar Hissing cockroaches do not infest human habitation. In the wild, they live in the forest and mostly feed on plant and fruit debris.
One last little tidbit of cockroach trivia! Female cockroaches carry their fertilized egg sac inside of their body. When it is time for the eggs to hatch, they give birth to live young!
I have been watching Ricky and Sticky for about 15 minutes now, and they still haven't really moved. I think that my apartment is just too cold for them to get their groove on.
Well, as the Malagasy people say it, "Mahayanona!" (Translated: It has been brought to completion!" Malagasy is the official language of Madagascar spoken by the Malagasy people.)
I really do wonder what they are thinking about as they sit, wiggle their antennas, and then start climbing on each other. Are they friends? Do cockroaches have big enough brains to feel a brotherly connection?
I just learned from National Geographic, that the hissing from the hissing cockroaches comes from a swift exhale of air from the abdomen of the roach. Also, this hissing is used in the mating ritual and to determine roach hierarchy.
Additionally, Madagascar Hissing cockroaches do not infest human habitation. In the wild, they live in the forest and mostly feed on plant and fruit debris.
One last little tidbit of cockroach trivia! Female cockroaches carry their fertilized egg sac inside of their body. When it is time for the eggs to hatch, they give birth to live young!
I have been watching Ricky and Sticky for about 15 minutes now, and they still haven't really moved. I think that my apartment is just too cold for them to get their groove on.
Well, as the Malagasy people say it, "Mahayanona!" (Translated: It has been brought to completion!" Malagasy is the official language of Madagascar spoken by the Malagasy people.)
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Life Science Project: music vs. no music
Hypothesis: If music is present, when the cockroaches are together, then the cockroaches will increase their movement.
| | One minute without music or sound (focusing on antenna movement) | One minute with tapping on the table (focusing on antenna movement) | One minute with music (Jack Johnson) (focusing on antenna movement) | One minute with “She is beautiful” by Andrew W. K. | One minute with “Time to say goodnight” by Andrew Bocelli (focusing on time increments that they moved) | One minute with tapping (focusing on time increments that they moved) | Without music (focusing on time increments that they moved) |
| Ricky | Moved his antennas twice | Moved his antennas 129 times and was walking around | Moved his antennas 112 times | 6 seconds | 18 seconds | 28.45 seconds | nothing |
| Sticky | Did not move at all | Moved his antenna five times but did not move. | Moved his antennas 80 times. | 13 seconds | Did not move at all | 58 seconds | 8 seconds- just antennas |
Saturday, April 2, 2011
I have discovered something about these cockroaches. Prepare yourself: get ready, men!
Cockroaches do have food preferences. Who knew? Upon re-receiving Ricky and Sticky, there were a few slices of strawberries in their box. I know that cockroaches get most their fluid through their food and the air, so I thought that these strawberries would be perfect for their little appetites.
I got the roaches on Wednesday afternoon. I have been watching as the strawberries have slowly become moldy. I thought that maybe this would even add a little more appeal to the roaches. Finally today (Saturday) I took out the strawberries, added a new paper towel, dropped a little water in to moisten the air, and put in a piece of apple slice.
I have been playing music this whole time, and Ricky was getting pretty animated (correlation data, only) When I dropped the water in the box, Ricky got very animated and started trying to eat the paper towel. I am infering that that is due to the fact that he is very, very thirst and hungry. Finally he bumped into the apple piece.
I tell you what, it was like that little Ricky had never eaten a day in his life! I am reminded of A Little Princess where Sara Crew buys a penny bun and gives it to the poor little girl. The hunger in that girl's eyes and then the barbaric way that she devoured the bread- that is exactly what Ricky did. He could not get enough of that apple piece. He was tilting his head and using his mouth feelers to scrape around and help shovel the food in his mouth. I don't think I have ever seen him move so quickly and animatedly. I think that he was really, really hungry. He ate as much apple as the size of his head. Quite impressive, really.
This is a funny thing to think of for me. Whereas the rest of the week, Ricky had mostly stayed in one spot in the container, he is now crawling all around the box, irritating Sticky, and chillaxin upside down on the wall. Sticky is even moving around a little bit more than earlier. He is now even out of the paper tube- something I have not seen all week.
Do you suppose that they are communicating with each other? "Hey Sticky! There's water in the air! AND apple's on the menu! STICKY! YOU HEAR ME??"
This movement might be contributed to the fact that there is food (that they like) in the container, but it also might be because we are listening to Jack Johnson again. I remember from the last time I was babysitter, that both roaches particularly like Jack Johnson. This is very interesting.
Man. We are listening to "You are Goodbye" by Holly Conlan. Both roaches have completely stopped moving. Social experiment: Jack Johnson again. Difference: a tiny bit of antennae movement. That's about it for now.
Cockroaches do have food preferences. Who knew? Upon re-receiving Ricky and Sticky, there were a few slices of strawberries in their box. I know that cockroaches get most their fluid through their food and the air, so I thought that these strawberries would be perfect for their little appetites.
I got the roaches on Wednesday afternoon. I have been watching as the strawberries have slowly become moldy. I thought that maybe this would even add a little more appeal to the roaches. Finally today (Saturday) I took out the strawberries, added a new paper towel, dropped a little water in to moisten the air, and put in a piece of apple slice.
I have been playing music this whole time, and Ricky was getting pretty animated (correlation data, only) When I dropped the water in the box, Ricky got very animated and started trying to eat the paper towel. I am infering that that is due to the fact that he is very, very thirst and hungry. Finally he bumped into the apple piece.
I tell you what, it was like that little Ricky had never eaten a day in his life! I am reminded of A Little Princess where Sara Crew buys a penny bun and gives it to the poor little girl. The hunger in that girl's eyes and then the barbaric way that she devoured the bread- that is exactly what Ricky did. He could not get enough of that apple piece. He was tilting his head and using his mouth feelers to scrape around and help shovel the food in his mouth. I don't think I have ever seen him move so quickly and animatedly. I think that he was really, really hungry. He ate as much apple as the size of his head. Quite impressive, really.
This is a funny thing to think of for me. Whereas the rest of the week, Ricky had mostly stayed in one spot in the container, he is now crawling all around the box, irritating Sticky, and chillaxin upside down on the wall. Sticky is even moving around a little bit more than earlier. He is now even out of the paper tube- something I have not seen all week.
Do you suppose that they are communicating with each other? "Hey Sticky! There's water in the air! AND apple's on the menu! STICKY! YOU HEAR ME??"
This movement might be contributed to the fact that there is food (that they like) in the container, but it also might be because we are listening to Jack Johnson again. I remember from the last time I was babysitter, that both roaches particularly like Jack Johnson. This is very interesting.
Man. We are listening to "You are Goodbye" by Holly Conlan. Both roaches have completely stopped moving. Social experiment: Jack Johnson again. Difference: a tiny bit of antennae movement. That's about it for now.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
A Slight Hiss
I think the cockroaches are a bit cold at school, but it is warmer (and safer) than my house. They haven't been moving around very much, but when I carry them around to show the students, the cockroaches become more willing to move around their habitat, occasionally hissing.
Ricky and Sticky gathered together in the cardboard tube, I'm not sure what their purpose in being so close was, I was hoping they were going to start fighting. Although they would occasionally crawl over/around one another, they didn't instigate any fighting.
Ricky and Sticky gathered together in the cardboard tube, I'm not sure what their purpose in being so close was, I was hoping they were going to start fighting. Although they would occasionally crawl over/around one another, they didn't instigate any fighting.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
At School
The cockroaches have been pretty sluggish the past few days. They have been staying in a 5th grade classroom. One of them has just been laying in the toilet paper tube and the other is laying in the middle of the habitat, although when he first came to school he was on the side of the box near the lid. It looked as though he was trying to escape.
The fifth-graders are all intrigued by him, hopefully tomorrow we will have some time to explore with these invertebrates.
The fifth-graders are all intrigued by him, hopefully tomorrow we will have some time to explore with these invertebrates.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
A Final Goodbye
So this is the final post that I will be writing about the cockroaches. Because of the practicum, we haven't been able to switch the cockroaches for a while but tomorrow the big day arrives. As weird as it is, I am sad to see them go. I have worried over them and their diet and swollen little bodies, I have enjoyed watching them fight and then avoid each other and I think most importantly have loved being able to scare my roommates with them. This week as I have observed the cockroaches I have noticed that they haven't been eating very much. I have given them the choice of apples, strawberries--a couple of times, and grapes. I have shied away from the bananas (ever since the incident). I am worried about this because I read online that male cockroaches will become cannibalistic if they don't eat anything. Now I'm not saying that I believe this-- it was online-- but I don't really want it to happen. So hopefully they will eat something soon.
So about the music and the cockroaches. I have noticed that they really like explosions and violence. After watching certain movies, they tend to move more. For example, a couple of my roommates have been watching the series Burn Notice and they seem to enjoy it as well. If we are going to watch a movie we will sometimes put the cockroaches right in front of the tv or by the speakers. We will then observe their behavior after the movie has finished and USUALLY they move a little more. Now this is not always true it is pretty interesting. Another theory is that they like the dark and so move more when it is dark. Whatever it is, its pretty entertaining to watch. We will continue to investigate this during our experiment and I'm excited to see what happens.
So about the music and the cockroaches. I have noticed that they really like explosions and violence. After watching certain movies, they tend to move more. For example, a couple of my roommates have been watching the series Burn Notice and they seem to enjoy it as well. If we are going to watch a movie we will sometimes put the cockroaches right in front of the tv or by the speakers. We will then observe their behavior after the movie has finished and USUALLY they move a little more. Now this is not always true it is pretty interesting. Another theory is that they like the dark and so move more when it is dark. Whatever it is, its pretty entertaining to watch. We will continue to investigate this during our experiment and I'm excited to see what happens.
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