Pill Bug Lab
Lab #1
Mrs. Hudak
Nanuet High School
Introduction:
What is a pill bug?
Pill bugs are fun to study because they are easy to find and DO NOT BITE! You
probably know these bugs by their nickname of “roly-poly” bugs. Pill bug is the
common name used for both pill bugs and a very similar type of bug called a sow bug.
They look similar however; pill bugs can roll themselves into tight balls when threatened
while sow bugs do not.
Surprisingly, pill bugs are not insects. Insects have hard exoskeletons and three pairs of
legs. Pill bugs actually belong to the same family of animals as shrimp and crabs. This
class of animals called crustaceans has exoskeletons, antennae, and many pairs of jointed
legs. Pill bugs belong to a special group of crustaceans called isopods. Isopod means
equal foot. Unlike crabs and lobsters, isopods legs are all the same shape. Most
crustaceans live in water, but pill bugs live on land.
In this lab, we will be observing pill bugs and their behavior. We will be practicing
observing and recording techniques that are important to a scientist. We also will be
practicing the metric system and the scientific method.
WARNING: Do not hurt, poke, or in any way harm these bugs. SEVERE point
deductions will be taken if any person is being cruel to the bugs. Yes, I know they are
just bugs…. but they are animals all the same. I plan to return the bugs to their natural
habitat when we are done studying them.
PLEASE WASH YOUR HANDS with soap and water after you handle the pill bugs.
Objectives:?
Materials: 2 pill bugs per team.
Petri dish
Colored pencils
Magnifying glass
Piece of white paper towel
Procedure:
1. Collect two pill bugs from the specimen container. Place your two pill bugs in a
petri dish.
2. Observe your pill bugs in the petri dish using your naked eye and the magnifying
glass. Touch the bugs gently with your finger or the eraser of a pencil and record
your observations. Draw your pill bug in the data table. Please use colored pencil
to create a life like depiction of one of your pill bugs. Write at least five
observations about your pill bugs in the data table.
3. Record the length of your pill bugs in the data table in mm.
4. Create a hypothesis on whether you think pill bugs prefer a dry or a moist
environment. State your rationale for creating your hypothesis. Record on the
data table.
5. Test your hypothesis. Take a small piece of paper towel and moisten it with
water. Place the moistened paper towel on half of the petri dish. Leave the other
half of the petri dish dry and empty. Let the pill bugs sit undisturbed for 5
minutes. Do the pill bugs prefer one side or the other? Record you answer on the
data table. Collect the same data from the other lab groups. Do you see a trend in
the behavior of the animals?
Data Table:
Diagram of pill bug:
Observations
1. _________________________________________________________________
2. _________________________________________________________________
3. _________________________________________________________________
4. _________________________________________________________________
5. _________________________________________________________________
Length #1_______________
#2__________________
Hypothesis: ______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
Rationale: ________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
Experimental results (please check the appropriate box): Which environment do pill bugs
prefer?
Group 1
Moist
Dry
Group 2
Group 3
Group 4
Group 5
Group 6
Questions:
1. According to your data, which environment do pill bugs prefer, moist or dry?
What is the natural habitat of pill bugs? Does the data correlate with the natural
environment of pill bugs?
2. Design an investigation to test another variable in a pill bugs environment. How
would you test this? (One paragraph)
3. How do you know your pill bug is alive? What are at least 3 characteristics of life
that your pill bug displays? Are there any characteristics of life that you cannot
directly observe in your pill bug?
4. Write a minimum of one paragraph describing the following:
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
What is a pill bug?
What other animals is the pill bug similar to?
What is the habitat of the pill bug?
What does a pill bug eat?
How do pill bugs reproduce?
How do pill bugs help the environment?
How can pill bugs harm the environment?
Conclusion: Write a one-paragraph conclusion (minimum of 7-9 sentences) concluding
what you have learned in this lab. Were your objectives met? Was your hypothesis
correct? Use data to support your answers.