michaelkim's blog

Our project describes the relationship between the arthropods and the distance between the reptile room that's located on the 5th floor. We measured the distance of each floor from the reptile room and displayed a graph of live, dead, spider webs of each floor by collecting the data with 2 separate trials. With the research done and the data collected, we found out that the floor with less traffic by humans naturally has more arthropods compared to the 1st floor with the heaviest human traffic containing the least arthropods which makes sense. Human traffic is just a disruption or a interference of their environment so there is going to be less arthropods present in it. Look at our graphs and our data along with our background, abstract, and discussion. Mostly importantly our results to see how the numbers of arthropods are affected by the distance of the reptile room to the arthropods themselves. Overall, it was an excellent project and I'm glad it was done as we learned a lot. Big shoutout to Professor Brewer for helping everybody.

Our data in the results section supported the information that was gathered from the studies researched by Lee, Lim, and Litwhiler. According to the luxury effect that affects the reptiles the strongest, the fourth floor should have the greatest number of arthropods since it is the closest to the reptile room. It also has the least amount of foot traffic which is another major factor. Because the first floor has the heaviest human traffic, there were the least amount of arthropods with only three spider webs combining both trials. The second floor only had nine arthropods or signs of arthropods. Third floor had twelve arthropods including dead bugs, live bugs, and spider webs. Fourth floor had eighteen including dead bugs, live bugs, and spider webs combining both trials for all three. Based off of our sources, our data proves the luxury effect and the theory that foot traffic along with the presence of reptiles reduces the number of arthropods.

Figure 10 summarizes the data of the four graphs. Figures 6 through 9 depict our data in graph form. The blue lines represent Trial 1 and the orange lines represent Trial 2. The first floor window sill is 21.33 m away from the reptile room, the second 19.69 m, the third 16.22 m, and the fourth 14.44 m. There was one crack present on the second floor.

The first graph, Figure 6, depicts the relationship between the number of dead bugs and distance from reptiles. In Trial 1 and Trial 2, zero dead bugs were found on the first and second floors. Two were found on the third floor in each trial. Four dead bugs were found on the fourth floor in Trial 1 and three were found in Trial 2. Therefore, a greater number of bugs were found on floors three and four when compared to floors one and two.

The second graph, Figure 7, depicts the relationship between the number of live bugs and distance from reptiles. In Trial 1 and Trial 2, zero live bugs were found on the first and second floor. In Trial 1, one live bug was found on both the third and fourth floor, and in Trial 2, zero live bugs were found on the third and fourth floors. Although few were observed, there was a greater number of bugs found on floors three and four.

The third graph, Figure 8, depicts the floor number versus the distance from reptiles. The first floor is the farthest from the reptile room and the fourth floor is the closest.

The fourth graph, Figure 9, depicts spider webs versus the distance from reptiles. Generally, there were many spider webs on the upper three floors for each trial with the least amount on the second floor.

In the spring 2018 semester of Dr. Stephen Brewer’s Writing in Biology course, students were tasked with designing proposal projects. Groups of students then voted on which project to base their poster presentation on. The purpose of the experiment we chose was to examine the relationship between the number of arthropods on window sills in Morrill IV South and their distance from the reptile room, which is located on the fifth floor of the Morrill II building. We observed the window sills adjacent to the bridge connecting Morrill IV North to Morrill IV South on the first, second, third, and fourth floors of the Morrill IV South building for signs of arthropods. These signs included live arthropods, dead arthropods, wings, exoskeletons, cracks, and webs, all of which will be quantified and related to the distance from the reptile room. Variables that influenced the number of arthropods and signs of arthropods include whether or not the window can open and the foot traffic of that particular floor. The aim was to find and explain the relationship between the number of arthropods on respective windowsills and their distances from the reptile room and to discover the ideal distance where arthropods thrive.

Our data in the results section supports the information that was gathered from the studies. According to the luxury effect, the fourth floor should have the greatest number of arthropods since it is the closest to the reptile room. It also has the least amount of foot traffic. Because the first floor has the heaviest human traffic, there were the least amount of arthropods with only 3 spider webs combining both trials. The second floor only had 9 arthropods or signs of arthropods. Third floor had twelve arthropods including dead bugs, live bugs, and spider webs. Fourth floor had 18 including dead bugs, live bugs, and spider webs combining both trials for all 3. Based off of our sources, our data lines up with the luxury effect and the theory that foot traffic reduces the number of arthropods.

First we counted the live arthropods, dead arthropods, webs, and cracks present on each window sill in two separate trials and created a table to quantify our data. The first trial took place on Tuesday, April 17th, and the second trial took place exactly one week later on Tuesday, April 24th. With the help of Professor Brewer, we were able to obtain the distance from all four window sills to the reptile room using Google Earth Pro. This program produced a 3D model of the Morrill II and Morrill IV South building.Using the arrows and ruler tool, the distance was measured. Because the reptile room was on the 5th floor, we had to take distance from all 4 different floors (1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th). Next we created four line graphs comparing Trial 1 and Trial 2. These graphs, Figures 1-4, respectively, are called Dead Bugs Versus Distance from Reptiles, Live Bugs Versus Distance from Reptiles, Floor Number Versus Distance from Reptiles, and Spider Webs Versus Distance from Reptiles. Figure 5 was created to put all the data together in one table.

The relationship between the distance from the reptiles to arthropods can be explained by other studies done in the past. An example of a phenomenon that explains this relationship is the luxury effect, which is strong particularly for lizards. Luxury effect displays links between urban biodiversity and sociology-economics (Litwhiler 2016). Studies have shown that factors such as climates and environmental factors play a key role when it comes to living organisms, and reptiles are no exception (Lee and Lim 2016). There are other factors that cause less arthropods, such as foot traffic. Since the first floor being the floor has the most traffic, it will have the least number of arthropods or signs of arthropods, as compared to the 4th floor that doesn’t have as much foot traffic. Since foot traffic causes a disturbance of other living organisms, there are less arthropods present. By critically observing and counting up the numbers of the arthropods and how they contain different physical features whether they be live or dead, we can observe and study how the relationship of the two affects each other.

If 3 UV active spots were in the crude material and co-spot TLC plate, and only one spot had the same R_f as the starting material and the other 2 are very different, predictions for the 2 non-starting material spots could be something in the middle of the mechanisms. There are four parts to the mechanism, the one in the middle are the ones that alter the mechanisms. So the second and third part of the mechanism would be the 2 non-starting material spots. This is because of the rate of the hydride attack on the carbon double bonded to the oxygen. It depends heavily on the R group present, and the more electron deficient it is, the faster the hydride can attack. But because they are different from the starting material spot, it would mean that it was caught between and could not fully reduced and go to completion. If it were to be the 1st and 4th instead of the two in the middle steps of this mechanism, it would go through but it will not be full.

If 3 UV active spots were in the crude material and co-spot TLC plate, and only one spot had the same R_f as the starting material and the other 2 are very different, predictions for the 2 non-starting material spots could be something in the middle of the mechanisms. There are four parts to the mechanism, so the second and third part of the mechanism would be the 2 non-starting material spots. This is because of the rate of the hydride attack on the carbon double bonded to the oxygen. It depends heavily on the R group present, and the more electron deficient it is, the faster the hydride can attack. But because they are different from the starting material spot, it would mean that it was caught between and could not fully reduced and go to completion.

            First, add benzoin (0.5g) and ethanol (4mL) to an Erlenmeyer flask (25mL) swirling at room temperature until it is all dissolved. Add sodium borohydride (0.1g) using a micro spatula in small amounts for 5 minutes (swirl for addition 20 minutes at room temperature). Cool the mixture using ice bath, add water (5mL) after and 6M HCl (0.3mL). Wait 15 minutes to add more water (2.5mL). Then collect the product using vacuum filtration (reserve 1-2mg for TLC analysis) after 15 minutes. Recrystallize from acetone, using 25 mL flask. Let it all dry and come back for evening hours. MP, yield %, and mass needs to be determined. Dissolve a small amount of benzoin, using recrystallized product and reserved crude product in ethyl acetate. Spot 2 TLC plates, with starting material, reserved crude product, recrystallized product, and a spot that contains both in the middle. Run the TLC plates in 9:1 CH­­₂Cl₂: ethanol. Add eluent to TLC developing chamber, use tweezers to carefully put the TLC plate in the chamber and screw the cap. Allow the solvent to run from the baseline to about 1cm from the top. Remove the TLC plate when it is ready marking the solvent from it and allow it to dry. Use UV light and mark them once it is all dry. Tape the plates on a sheet of the lab notebook paper or take a picture and draw into the lab notebook.