Cheryl Chang

Mrs. Quan
Biology/Period 6
9/2/10
1. Observations: Rollie Pollies can be found in dark places in the dirt, like under rocks or leaves.
They are usually at the surface, and you do not have to dig down too deep to find them.
2. Question: What type of environment will rollie pollies choose?
3. Hypothesis: Rollie pollies will choose a dark environment. If the environment is dark, then
rollie pollies will be found there.
4. Title: Effect of brightness on rollie pollies preferences.
5. Abstract: The experiment began with the gathering of the materials. We measured out 30
grams of dirt and separated them into two piles of 15 grams each, and put them into the control
and choice chambers. We then placed five rollie pollies into the control chamber and proceeded
to cover up the chamber completely with foil, since our hypothesis was that if the environment is
dark, then rollie pollies will be found there. After, we placed five rollie pollies into the uncovered
side of the choice chamber and put both chambers under the sun, creating brightness where there
wasnt foil. We recorded data every thirty seconds on how many rollie pollies decided to go the
the dark side. In the end, the data showed that the longer the rollie pollies stayed in the
brightness, the more decided to go to the dark side. So in conclusion, rollie pollies do prefer
darkness rather than brightness, and our hypothesis was correct.
6. Introduction:
a. (Background): Rollie pollies live in the dirt or in cracks between cement. They are
nocturnal, and eat dirt or composted food, just like earthworms. Just like humans, the need food
and water to survive. They help out the environment by making the soil in gardens nutritious and
ready to use again.
b. (Purpose): We wanted to see if why rollie pollies like darkness is related to why they
are nocturnal.
7. Materials:
-Choice chamber
-Control chamber
-10 rollie pollies
-foil
-dry dirt (30 g)
-stopwatch
8. Procedure:
1. Gather materials
2. Place 15 g of dirt in each chamber
3. Insert five rollie pollies into each chamber

4. Place foil over all of control chamber

5. Place foil over on of the two choice chambers
6. Place choice chamber under bright sunlight
7. Observe
8. Record data
Variable: darkness
Sample size: 10 rollie pollies
Control Set Up: completely covered with foil
9. Results:
Time
0 .5
# of rollie pollies
0 0

1
1

1.5 2 2.5
2
4 5

3
4

3.5
5

4 4.5
4 5

5
5

5.5
5

6
4

6.5
5

7
5

7.5
5

8
5

8.5
5

9
5

9.5
5

10
5

5 5

5 5

on dark side
# of rollie pollies
on one side of
Control chamber

5 5

10. Graph

Numbe
r of
Rollie
Pollies
on
DARK
side

5
4
3
2
1
0

0 .
5

1 1.
5

2 2.
5

3 3.
5

4 4.
5 5. 6 6.
5 (Minutes)
5
5
Time

7 7.
5

8 8.
5

9 9.
5

10

11. Conclusion
a. The data supports the hypothesis because it shows that by the end of the experiment, all
of the rollie pollies had moved to the dark side due to the brightness.
b. Our hypothesis was supported by scientific concepts because the longer the rollie
pollies stayed on the bright side, the brighter it got, until they couldnt stand it and moved to the
darker side covered by foil.
c. Some problems that occurred that caused uncertainty included that we started the
control chamber with all the rollie pollies on the same side. Since both sides were dark, they
didnt bother moving. Another uncertainty was the fact that we used the sunlight as the source of
light instead of something that didnt cause heat. For example, if we used a flashlight instead, the
outcome may have been different because the rollie pollies could have been going to the dark
side because of the heat the sun was creating, instead of the brightness.
e. If we did the same experiment, but it was raining (with the sun still shining) would the
outcome be the same?
f. This lab could possibly show why rollie pollies are nocturnal, the answer being they
dislike brightness and prefer the darkness of the night to come out.