Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

I am thinking about over the summer geting a head start on my sci fair project ( THANKS SOOOOOO MUCH FOR LAST YEAR I COULDN'T DO IT WITHOUT YOU GUYS,and girls!!!!!!!!!!! ) I'm thinking of doing a project about silkworms ( inspired by the book "Project Mulberry") and if the amount of silk they produce might be affected by listening to various kinds of music, Classical, rock, metal, ect... and of corse nothing as a control. I would appriciate help a whole lot !Really!

tylers740,

I'm glad to hear that we were able to help you with your project last year and hope we can do the same this year. I'm also glad that you are starting to think about your project now because starting earlier will make your project much better and much less stressful.

I think that your idea about looking at different factors that affect the production of silk by silkworms is an interesting topic for a project. However, I'm not sure that using music as your independent variable is the best idea. One of the things that makes one science project stand out from the rest is originality. The effects of different kinds of music on something is done very, very often and it usually isn't done very well. You see, measuring the effect on music on something is very hard to do because there are so many other factors that are often quite difficult to control.

What would you think about considering some other factors that might affect silkworm's production? If you really want to study how music affects the silkworms, that is fine, but I would recommend considering looking at some other factors that are easier to manipulate and control, like the amount of water they receive or their response to different dosages of a chemical, or some other environmental factor. Using a factor that occurs naturally in the environment would also make your project more meaningful, because your results would have applications to the environment. For instance, in an area near where I live there is an infestation of the Japanese Beetle and people are spraying a certain chemical to kill the beetles that is not supposed to harm other living organisms. But is that really true? Experiments studying this chemical have real applicability.

Let me know what you think. If you are really sure you want to do different types of music, we'll help you with that, and if you would like to consider some other factors, we can help you brainstorm ones that would be good to test.

Good luck on the project!

Might the ave. humidity be a good factor? or amounts of iron or other minerals in food or water? Might You be able to tell me the chemical they are using near your home?

Tyler S.

These are good questions. Now you are starting to think creatively - like a scientist! Average humidity would be very interesting, I think. The difficulty I see with that particular factor would be how you would control humidity. Would you, for example, design a box of sorts in which you could place the silkworms and control the humidity? I think this could definitely be interesting; we would just need to figure out a way to control the humidity of the silkworm's environment. We have many talented Experts who would probably be able to help with this. If your interested in pursuing this, I will put up a note asking for another Expert to chime in with some advice on how to create an environment where the worms could live and you could control the humidity. I haven't ever heard of a student doing a project on how the amount of silk a silkworm produces varies with humidity, so this would be a fairly original and creative project for a middle school student, which always impresses the judges.

Studying how the amounts of iron or other elements/minerals/nutrients in the worm's food and water would also be interesting. This might be a bit easier to do than studying the effects of humidity, but it would not be as original. Do you know what silkworms eat/drink and how they do so? That information would be very important to have if you are going to do your project from this perspective.

The chemical they are using in the city just next to mine is called imidacloprid.

To help you figure out which factor you would like your project to focus on, (I think all of the ones that you have mentioned here are good ones; my personal favorite is the humidity idea. The most important thing, though, is not what I think. The most important thing is that you choose a factor that is interesting, exciting, and fascinating for you.) I would recommend doing some research about silkworms and how various environmental factors affect them.

Let me know your thoughts. I really like the way that you are thinking critically about your project idea!

Would I be able to use that chemical: "imidacloprid" in my house? Or do I need a Lab to do it in? On the topic of the humidity isn't there a chemical that pulls the moisture out of the air? what I would do is to put up tarps to keep moisture from leaking into my test area then I would sprinkle that chemical on the floor. once all the moisture is out of the air I would put a humidifier in the room and moniter the humidity to keep it stable. In that environment I would grow the silkworms.

tylers740,

Imidacloprid is the active ingredient in many commercially available pesticides (Admire, Confidor, Connect, Evidence, Leverage, Muralla, Provado, Trimax) and is the active ingredient in Advantage, a flea medication used on dogs and cats. The question on whether you would be allowed to use the chemical in your science fair project would be something you would need to ask your teacher. He or she will be able to help you determine if use of this chemical is allowed by the rules on your science fair. If you do decide to use the chemical, be sure to follow the safety precautions listed on the container and be sure to have an adult with you at all times.

With regards to humidity, it is true that there are chemical that can remove the moisture in the air. However, you would not want to remove all of the humidity from the air in which the silkworms would be living. What you would want is a way to control the humidity. I will put a note up to see if another Expert could join this discussion who has some ideas on how you could control the humidity.

These are really good thoughts; I can tell that you are really thinking. Keep up the good work!

Good evening, tylers740,

This sounds like a very interesting topic! However, it may be somewhat challenging, not least because you may be limited as to what chemicals and materials you have available to you, and how much chemistry you have covered in class.

One of the simplest ways of varying humidity is to use certain saturated binary (two component) aqueous (water-based) solutions in a sealed vessel. This may itself be a problem, as the sealing of the container containing the silkworms would prevent respiration and they may perish...

Basically, one method would use a specific, single chemical compound in a saturated aqueous solution in an open container at the bottom of the sealed vessel, and the temperature could then be varied, thus changing the relative humidity inside the vessel. However, the temperature is a variable that should most likely be fixed - since you would not know whether it was the change in relative humidity or the temperature that was affecting the silkworms. Consequently, an alternative method would be to keep the temperature the same in each experiment, but to change the chemical solutions - certain saturated aqueous solutions produce different relative humidities at the same temperature.

Another challenge is to find a way to accurately measure the relative humidity within the vessel. There are both mechanical and electronic devices available on the market.

Unfortunately, since the time it takes for the relative humidity to equilibrate (basically 'level off' and become constant) using these solutions may take a day or two, I am not sure if this is the best approach - especially since the vessel should ideally be sealed. (If the vessel is open to the outside atmosphere, the relative humidity within the container will never equilibrate.)

Please try searching for any terms that you do not understand and let us know if you have any more questions.

Sorry I couldn't be of any more help!

Good luck and best wishes,
Geoff.

Hi tylers740,

I know it has been awhile since this posting, but I thought you might want to consider temperature as your variable, since it is easier to manipulate than humidity. (Technically, humidity can vary with temperature; but as Geoff pointed out, it is very difficult to control humidity.)

You could potentially set up a temperature gradient, and arrange your worms across it. Let me know if you're interested, and I can help you come up with ways to do this.

Let us know if you have any more questions!

Cheers,
Heather

I have a question. I want to do a science project on silkworms. Can you tell me if this is a good topic? Is it original?
"Do silkworms produce more silk when feed with fresh mulberry leaves vs mulberry leave substitute?"

Hi,

This sounds like an interesting idea! A science project on silkworms definitely seems original, and if this is the topic you're interested in, I think you should go for it!

It's excellent that you've narrowed down your project's topic to a specific question. This way, you have greater clarity and direction as you plan your project. It looks as if you have your independent variables and dependent variables mapped out already, so great job for getting the basework on your project done.
As ideas for further steps as you start on your project in more detail, you may want to consider researching the compounds that are present in fresh mulberry leads and how these compounds are missing/different in the leaf substitute. That way, after conducting your experiment, you can perhaps analyze/think of potential reasons why you got the results you did. Maybe the different compounds affected the silkworms in a way you didn't expect? Your analysis based on your research would definitely be very interesting and original to hear about as well along with the results of the experiment.

Hope this helps; please post again if you have any more questions!

Good luck!

Thank you ScibuddyAK. What do you think about dipping mulberry leaves in different colors and see if the worms will produce different color silks? Is food coloring safe?

Hi,

I think this sounds like a very interesting topic and quite feasible. Food coloring that you buy to dye food should be quite safe and readily available, which will make your project easier to complete. Before you start I would do some background reading and carefully consider a number of variables, including how long you will soak the mulberry leaves in the dye, how long the silkworms will be fed the "dyed" leaves, etc. You could design an experiment where you keep all of these variables consistent and use different types of food dyes, or you could use one kind of food dye and vary how you supply. I would definitely do a few google searches to give yourself sufficient background information to get started. Make sure to use reputable sources in your reading.

Hope this helps,
JMP

Hi!

I really agree that this project would be both interesting and feasible for you to do. Along with considering the variables that JMP mentioned (all good things to keep in mind), you should also control your experiment very well and only test one variable at a time. I did a quick Google search about changing the color of silk in silkworms, and one useful site I found was this one:
http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Silkworm-Chow
Using the basic steps outlined here as a reference, remember to measure and record everything precisely as you conduct your procedure.

By the way, I know this may be a bit too far ahead at this point, but if you're planning to present this project, for your project's presentation/poster you should consider creating data tables and pie charts/graphs to illustrate your results. While any experiment should have graphs for good data presentation, I think this kind of experiment is especially well suited for graphs, and they would make your results "pop out" to an audience and really help you organize the results of your tests as well.

Also, here's an interesting article related to your topic. While it's not exactly what your project is planning to test, it highlights your project's applications and how useful your project could be to the world. You may want to consider using your results and briefly discussing about this in a presentation as well.
http://phys.org/news/2011-03-silkworm-d ... tages.html

Good luck! Please feel free to post in the same thread if you have any more questions!

To record the weight, should I do that weekly or every 3 days? What is standard?

Hi there,

I don't think there is a "standard" really, but I did find one project that measured mass every 5 days. Of course, the more often you weigh your silkworms, the more precise your data will be. If you can't do it every day, I think 3 days is a good idea.

I hope that helps!

Heather

Hi!

Yes, as heatherL accurately put it, there isn't really a standard. Depending on your silkworms' growth rate - you may have to do a little pre-testing to determine the best time increments for measuring mass - and go from there.

Hope this helps!

This is SCIENCESCIENCE again. The project is still going. I want to change the hypothesis to "Do the silkworms feeding on fresh mulberry leaves gain more weight than the silkworms feeding on mulberry chow?" Does this sound experimental? I need it to be an experimental and not comparative investigation. Please advise.

Hi SCIENCESCIENCE,

I like your new project idea! It definitely is experimental because you are manipulating a variable - the type of food - that you expect to affect your silkworms' growth. I think you wanted to avoid an "observational" study rather than a "comparative" study. Good luck, and please keep us posted on your progress!

Heather