I should be doing a lab report on how temperature effects the speed at which crickets chirp, but it seems so pointless. So instead, I thought to myself, why not share me misery with the Paizo community. How will this lab help me later in life?
That depends on the write-up. If you have to make it look publishable, then that's a useful skill.
Otherwise, it'll only help if it is the critical lab that gets you an 'A' that is just enough to get your GPA up to the point where it gets you into the graduate school of your choice. Lots of 'if' there.
As you can see, I've done this stuff before. I'm supposed to be making random plots in Qrule right now but prefer to be here.
I should be doing a lab report on how temperature effects the speed at which crickets chirp, but it seems so pointless. So instead, I thought to myself, why not share me misery with the Paizo community. How will this lab help me later in life?
Why would temperature affect chirping speed? Even a strong correlation doesn't mean much without some sort of theoretical mechnanism by which they're related. That's a lesson worth learning: things happen for a reason, and that reason is usually a logical one -- there's usually no need to get mystical and metaphysical if the thing happening is a simple physical event.
Did you get to pick this topic, BTW? For what it's worth: In general, professional scientists (like me) are super-dorky about things they're interested in, but get bored to death very quickly by topics that are arbitrarily assigned to them. I know I did.
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Most things you get subjected to in life will have a manifest and a latent function. The manifest function is the obvious stated purpose. The latent function is the unstated, possibly unintended and possibly hidden reasons for the way things are.
In your case, the manifest purpose is probably 'do the lab work, get a grade' 'demonstrate writing ability and the ability to do a basic experiment'. If you are doing a lab report in a 1st or 2cd year undergraduate course, the boring lab report probably has a latent purpose of weeding people out of the program, or making the grading curve easier.
Hello No! I would never pick this topic. But it does hold true. Crickets at 50 degrees chirp much slower than crickets at 80 degrees. Of course, the recordings don't define if they are the same crickets, same place, etc. For example, one recording has a dog barking in the background. :P
Hello No! I would never pick this topic. But it does hold true. Crickets at 50 degrees chirp much slower than crickets at 80 degrees. Of course, the recordings don't define if they are the same crickets, same place, etc. For example, one recording has a dog barking in the background. :P
Sounds like a really questionable assignment. I mean, honestly. The fact they're anonymous recordings -- that could be of multiple crickets -- ruins the whole setup. For example, if one cricket in a cage chirps faster when you turn up the heat, OK -- maybe it's some metabolic thing. But with recordings, who knows? Maybe crickets that chirp faster for some reason (younger crickets? healthier ones? Dunno) just like the heat, and slower-chirping crickets go dormant or something when it's hot out. Without a reason you're testing for, the test is worthless. I can only hope your teacher's reason for assigning this thing was to point that out. If not, he or she seems like a pretty lousy scientist.
To make a valid experiment out of this, you'd need large numbers of crickets, all timed independently of each other under temperature conditions that you control. The setup you describe isn't a scientific "experiment" at all, rather, it's a "survey," which is a less useful method.
I don't think you could even consider her a 'scientist'. She has absolutley no experience (well I guess she has some, but she hasn't displayed). Of course, I'm fine with it, cause she's a pushover of a teacher and I'm getting A's so far.
I don't think you could even consider her a 'scientist'. She has absolutley no experience (well I guess she has some, but she hasn't displayed). Of course, I'm fine with it, cause she's a pushover of a teacher and I'm getting A's so far.
Man, I feel for you. I hated science all the way through high school because of lame teachers, and only got into it in college when I took my first geology class -- they told me I'd get to go outside a lot -- and I learned how to tell the history of an area like a story, just by looking at the rocks and geographic features.
When I later taught 9th grade Earth Science, my first classroom rule was simple: "If I can't tell you what good it is, you don't have to learn it."
Director of Sales
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Two things:
1) I've always found the fact that temperature affect the speed of crickets chirping to be a fascinating fact. This is a "Gee whiz!" factoid that you will be able to bust out at a moment's notice for the rest of your life. How much value you put on this is up to you. Furthermore, if you were to use this information to create some sort of machine that uses this fact in a way that solves some general need and you could therefore sell it to people and make yourself rich, well, then you would derive some value from your lab work. I admit it isn't likely. The point is... You determine the value of this work for yourself, by your own inclinations and decisions.
2) No matter what you end up doing for your career, there will always be some annoying, trivial, pointless, and boring task that you will have to do. The only way to get past the annoying stuff and into the fun stuff is to just buckle down and do it. This lab work is training you for this. Your ability to get the annoying crap done quickly so you can spend more of your time with the interesting stuff will be directly related to your success later in life.
My 2cp. :)
Two things:
1)Furthermore, if you were to use this information to create some sort of machine that uses this fact in a way that solves some general need and you could therefore sell it to people and make yourself rich, well, then you would derive some value from your lab work.
2)Your ability to get the annoying crap done quickly so you can spend more of your time with the interesting stuff will be directly related to your success later in life.
1) That is a great idea, and I shall give 10% of the profit.
2)So... when I finish school (the crap) I will be able to follow my artistic side (the interesting stuff) which conveniently has nothing to do with intense math and science - and don't give me any they are related crap. I'm a perfectly fine artist without knowing that y=2x-90 is a linear equation.
Take back your 2cp :)
Next thing you will be analyzing how does the Paizo boards affect Poodle mating!
Next thing you will be analyzing how does the Paizo boards affect Poodle mating!
Lol.
I should do that for my final this year. Last year I did global warming affecting penguin migration. hehe, penguins
I'm a perfectly fine artist without knowing that y=2x-90 is a linear equation.
Well, as long as you can set up and handle 2-point perspective problems... otherwise your buildings will all look like they're falling over!
Most of the specific crap they cram down your throat is indeed worthless, but the ability to think analytically is a key element in almost any profession you'd care to name.
i could just say that it was abstract... a lot of artists pass of s%*# these days...
i could just say that it was abstract... a lot of artists pass of s#!% these days...
Yeah. Ever seen Picasso's realistic (non-cubist) stuff? The guy had a superlative grasp of the technical mechanics of classical artistic training. Like, unbelievably good. That's why his cubist stuff works, and is so famous. You look at someone who can't sketch, and even their abstract paintings are sheer crap.
Sorry; I come from a long line of artists: mom, aunts, uncles, grandfather, great-uncles, great-grandfather. I spent years studying architecture and drafting. Later on, I bucked the trend and became a scientist.
Pish, deadline. I'm ahead of schedule.
HaHa! I have finished! Of course I shall go over my work tomorrow...maybe... I might post random jargon instead! Oh priorities...
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I should be doing a lab report on how temperature effects the speed at which crickets chirp, but it seems so pointless. So instead, I thought to myself, why not share me misery with the Paizo community. How will this lab help me later in life?
You'll never have trouble getting a date if you share that info!
;-)
Dashing through the lab
with a tan page lab report
Taking all those tests
and laughing at them all
Bells for fire drills ring
making spirits bright
What fun it is to laugh and sing
a chemistry song tonight.
Oh, lab report, lab reports,
reacting all the way
Oh what fun it is to study
for a chemistry test today, Hey!
Chemistry test, chemistry test
isn't it a blast
Oh what fun it is to take
a chemistry test and pass.
What, me a geek?
Anyway, writing lab reports on somewhat trivial subjects helps you on analytical thinking, and how to express yourself on scientific way (not to mention understanding others when they talk science).
You already spotted that the sampling is not defined well enough and question if the sampling is made in comparable, reproducible way (if the crickets are the same, if there is same number of them etc). Do remember to write that on chapter "potential error sources", which can be a fun chapter to write for somewhat pointless assignments, if you can really rip the whole thing apart and point out the pointlessness of the exercise, and still get an A :)
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Crickets are insects and therefore exothermic (requireing external heat sources to drive their metabolic processes).
Heat in turn drives the rate at which metabolic reactions can occur within the muscles controlling the back legs. Higher heat means these muscles can move faster and therefore the rate of chirruping increases.
I would also look at the fact that the chirruping is a form of communication between crickets, possibly a mating call mechanism or territorial thing (I don't know enough about crickets to truly tell).
If a mating call, then their egg laying and hatching is also likely temperature dependent so increasing frequency at high temperatures may increase the chance of a successful mating at a time most suited to the hatching of their eggs.
Please note these are suggestions of possible answers to investigate, not definitive by any means. I haven't made a study of crickets.
Hope these help, then you can get back to more D&D
<sigh> I'm meant to be taking a break from these boards then you post something interesting like this.
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Think about it this way: if you do a good job on this report, then you might be more likely to retain the knowledge long term. Then, if giant killer crickets (resulting from either genetic mutation, radiation, or alien invasion) ever take over Earth and attempt to wipe out mankind, you will be in the perfect position to lead a rag tag group of rebels in a desperate battle against our merciless chirping overlords.
Think about it this way: if you do a good job on this report, then you might be more likely to retain the knowledge long term. Then, if giant killer crickets (resulting from either genetic mutation, radiation, or alien invasion) ever take over Earth and attempt to wipe out mankind, you will be in the perfect position to lead a rag tag group of rebels in a desperate battle against our merciless chirping overlords.
That would actually make a legit adventure
You'll never have trouble getting a date if you share that info!
;-)
Hmmm... you are briliant