Learn how to set up a vivarium for pill bugs, observe their behavior, and study their habitat and ecosystem.
Extract
[...] Understand the way of life of woodlice and their place in ecosystems: habitat, nutrition, behavior, how they help the planet and humans. Develop scientific spirit: observe, propose hypotheses, experiment, analyze results. Materials needed: - A vivarium or a large glass jar or a plastic box with a perforated lid. - Intermediate containers for the collection and sorting of plant and animal samples - Mosquito net (or old tights?) and something to fix it on the jar - Dark kraft paper - Garden soil or underbrush litter. - Dead leaves and rotten wood pieces, bark pieces, moss. [...]
[...] - What source of food is it searching for? They can lead to the collective production of a document of the poster type (see example To observe the woodlice without disturbing them, it is then sufficient to remove this paper temporarily, the woodlice remain immobile in their refuge in the darkness. Even when they are active, woodlice are quite easy to observe: we can distinguish different sizes, colors, recognize the antennae, and count the pairs of legs. Rearing and monitoring of the breeding It will then be a matter of making sure to: - maintaining the 'mousse' part moist - feed the isopods with food waste (potato peels, carrot peels?), and possibly add pieces of eggshells for the health of their carapace - observe their growth and the evolution of their population to maintain a density of animals compatible with the space of the vivarium: it is possible to have over several weeks phases of reproduction/birth of young Once the breeding is set up, it is possible to initiate observation processes with the students in small groups or individually with a 'clear head', in particular: - Position the isopod in the context of all living species and initiate the keys of determination of type logograms (see example for example, what are the common points of the isopod with an insect of the type ladybug and with a crustacean of the type shrimp? [...]
[...] - Small bottle for watering - Loupe. - Observation notebook. - Crayons and markers. Unfolding of the activity Presentation of the activity to the students Prepare the collection of insects - Install temporary shelters or refuges that can be removed (or several can be installed and the results compared and explained) Collection Point Deposit of a board near a composter Didactic declension The presentation of the cloportes allows to address the question of prejudices and stereotypes (harmful/useful animals, insect or not?) This activity can be broken down into several sessions, it actually requires at least 2 days if all the steps of setting up the vivarium are carried out with the students. [...]
[...] Gently water the right side of the vivarium (sphagnum moss) with rainwater (or bottled water). Be careful not to overwater to keep the left side drier (creation of a humidity gradient): Then install a piece of dead tree bark against the back wall, spanning the humid and dry areas: it will serve as a shelter for the pill bugs: - the moss: humid environment, role of water in the life of the pill bug, a terrestrial crustacean that breathes with gills? [...]
[...] The activity of potato excavation can also be carried out with students. - either during a pedagogical outing with the class in the forest or undergrowth which can lead to a discovery of the forest ecosystem. It is also possible to propose creating small vivariums in groups of 3 to 4 students in place of or above the class vivarium. The setting up of the vivarium allows for addressing the concepts related to the program(1) such as the habitat of the pill bug: hypotheses to be formulated on the role of the different elements brought in: - the litter: opening and/or source of food? [...]
