Setting up the Experiment

Materials

Per Class:

Per Instructor

Per Table Group:

Print out or have ready your copy of the PowerPoint with the teacher notes under each slide.
Print out one "Milkweed Bug Journal" per student.
Place 15-20 eggs in each of the plastic deli containers.
Place a piece of tape on each of the breathable lids. This is so that the students can write their table group name and "cool" or "warm" with sharpie on their containers.
Use a knife to cut an "x" on the top of the small plastic portion cup lids for the water . The students will be soaking and then feeding the cotton through the "x" (image shown below).
Set out one Lasagna Pan per table group and place 2 plastic deli containers with breathable lids , 4 plastic portion cups with 2 lids, 2 cotton balls, a sharpie, and a pipette in each. Set aside
Find a clear corner for the two coolers near an electrical outlet
Label one box "cool" and the other box "warm"
Attach the LED lightbulbs to each container and plug them into a 24-hour plug-in timer. Set the timer to springtime conditions, with 16 hours of light.
For the cool box, leave the lid completely off of the container. For the warm box keep the lid partially on the container.
Fill a couple large cups with tap water and a few large cups with sunflower seeds. Set aside to be used by the students when they need to fill up their food and water cups.