Ladybugs and aphids

[loretta lemos]

My 12 yr old duaghters sci proj question is "how long does it take a ladybug to eat an aphid?" and her hypothesis will be someting like; "it will take approximately 30 minutes for a ladybug to consume an aphid".
She is doing her proj on ladybugs. My question is; is her question and hypothesis valid or silly? If not valid, can you suggest a better question and hypo to do her project on?

[ScienceExpert123]

Your question and hypothesis are completely valid....you asked a question and hypothesized the answer with a single variable. If you want to add another set of experiments to the project you can also ask something like "what local vegetation do lady bugs enjoy eating the most"?

good luck,
scienceexpert123

[MelissaB]

I agree with scienceexpert's opinion of your project--this is an important and interesting topic, since lady bugs are often considered to be keystone species in their environment.

If you want to refine your hypothesis, I would suggest looking up statistics on how many aphids an average ladybug can eat, and using that to figure out how long it might take to eat one. You also probably want to have her do some general background reading on aphids and ladybugs--I'm sure there are some books you could check out of the library.

(Also, just to correct a minor misunderstanding--lady bugs don't eat vegetation, just other bugs!)

Good luck!

[loretta lemos]

Excellent ideas! Thank you very much!