Orientation in pill bugs: an interdisciplinary activity to engage students in concepts of biology, physics, and circular statistics
This repository includes the detailed procedures for performing the pill bug laboratory exercise described in Fitak et al. 2018. Links to different material describing the activity as well as for further reading and exploration are provided as clickable links highlighted in blue. Any and all additions, comments, and criticisms are welcome and can be submitted either through GitHub as a “patch” or to my email (rfitak9@gmail.com). On behalf of my coauthors who helped design this exercise (Eleanor Caves and Sönke Johnsen), we hope you enjoy the activity!
Circular Statistics
If interested, the tutorial below on circular statistics can be included during classtime prior to the experiment day. This tutorial is deisgned as a very basic introduction to the statistical software R and its utility for performing statistical tests and graphically visualizing data. However, this tutorial can be skipped and the results analyzed using our new online calculator (click here) or even by hand.
The tutorial can be found at the link below:
Circular data in biology tutorial: An introduction to R
The online calculator for the lab:
Pill bug lab online calculator
Alternatively, if you prefer to calculate the mean angle and perform the Rayleigh and Watson statistical tests by hand or with a calculator, you can follow the tutorial at the link below. It is a bit more tedious, but easily performed by advanced high school and undergraduate students.
Circular data analysis by hand
The Pill Bug Lab
The link below contains the full description of the pill bug lab presented in the article, complete with illustrations and guiding questions.
Pill bug lab handout - This handout can help introduce and guide students participating in this activity. It includes spaces for recording data and observations in addition to critical thinking questions. This handout is also available in the ‘Appendix’ of the publication.
A printable (8.5” x 11”) orientation arena can be found here.
An example Powerpoint lecture on magnetoreception can be downloaded here
Citation and Licensing
Please cite our paper in any publications using this activity.
Fitak, R. R., Caves, E. M. & Johnsen, S. (2018). Orientation in pill bugs: an interdisciplinary activity to engage students in concepts of biology, physics & circular statistics. The American Biology Teacher, 80(8), 608-618. doi: 10.1525/abt.2018.80.08.608
All materials presented here are licensed using GNU General Public License v2.0. The full license information is detailed at the link below.