Observations

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**Initial observations on January 26, 2011**
Our group initially received 12 mealworms to observe and conduct experiments with. **Colour:** the mealworms are of a tan colour with some being a little darker. The rings on the body are darker then the rest of the body. **Speed:** move fairly quickly. This could be due to the light. They stretch in length as they move **Legs**: 3 sets of legs in the front and 1 set in the back.

**General observations:** They like to hide in the bran. Once in the bran they tended to stay in one place. **Identification of the mealworms**: We painted each of them so that we could track them. We measured their lenght the first day hoping to track their growth but soon realised after our second day observing them that this would not be possible. Many shed their skin within the first week.
 * Location**: The mealworms were kept in a cardboard box in Room 205. A relatively warm room.


 * ** Worm ** ||  ** Length **  ||
 * 1 || 1.6 cm ||
 * 2 || 1.6 cm ||
 * 3 || 2 cm ||
 * 4 || 2.6 cm ||
 * 5 || 1.6 cm ||
 * 6 || 2.2 cm ||
 * 7 || 2.2 cm ||
 * 8 || 2.1 cm ||
 * 9 || 2.2 cm ||
 * 10 || 1.7 cm ||
 * 11 || 1.6 cm ||
 * 12 || 2.3 cm ||

**The Break Up:**
On January 31, 2011 Elise brought 4 mealworms home to put them in a cooler location to see if they would shed or grow any differently than the mealworms kept in the classroom. Our prediction is that they would develop at a slower pace since they were kept in a cooler location. for more information on the experiment and its findings please refer to Experiment #7.

On February 10th, 2011 Catherine brought three mealworms home to conduct the red food colouring experiment. For more information on the experiment please refer to Experiment #8. On February 15th, 2011 one of the mealworms at Catherine’s went into the pupa stage.

General observations through out the discovery time period of January 26 to February 24, 2011.
On February 12th Elise had a flood in her basement. The box used to house the mealworms was completely soaked, and there was water in the box. After changing the mealworms box, Elise observed that the water did not affect the mealworms. She kept a close eye on the mealworms, and did not notice any changes.

On February 14th one of our mealworms left in the classroom was in the pupa stage. The larva in the pupa stage is very still. However when it is picked up you can observe it moving. It looks like it is shaking. On February 21st the pupa changed into a beetle. The beetle was a light brown in colour and did not move much. At first we thought it was dead. We also observed that another of the larvae had changed into a pupa. On February 24th the last of the 4 mealworms in the classroom box was changing into a pupa. At this stage 1 was a beetle, 2 pupas and the 4th was morphing into a pupa. the beetle was more active today. ||  ||   ||   ||