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Spider Webs and Chemical Pollution: A Data Nuggets Investigation, Study notes of Construction

Effects of drugs on spiders have been studied since the. 1940s. Dr. Peter Witt first discovered that chemicals change spider web construction. Peter gave.

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Name_________________
Data Nuggets developed by Michigan State University fellows in the NSF BEACON and GK-12 programs
1
Spiders under the influence
Featured scientists: Chris Hawn from University of Maryland Baltimore County and
Aaron Curry from Baltimore Ecosystem Study LTER
Research Background:
People use pharmaceutical drugs, personal care products, and other chemicals on a
daily basis. For example, we take medicine when we are sick to feel better, and use
perfumes and cologne to make ourselves smell good. After we use these chemicals,
where do they go? Often, they get washed down our drains and end up in local
waterways. Even our trash can contain these harmful chemicals. For example, when
coffee grounds are thrown into the trash, caffeine gets washed into our waterways.
Animals in waterways, like insects, live with these chemicals every day. Many insects
are born and grow in the water, absorbing the drugs over their lifetime. As predators
eat the insects, the chemicals are passed on, working their way through the food web.
For example, spiders living along riverbanks feed off aquatic insects and absorb the
drugs from their prey.
Just as chemicals change
human behavior, they change
spider behavior as well!
Effects of drugs on spiders
have been studied since the
1940s. Dr. Peter Witt first
discovered that chemicals
change spider web
construction. Peter gave
caffeine, and a few other
drugs, to spiders to see if
they would build their webs
during the day instead of at
night, which is when they
usually work. After giving his test spiders some of the drugs, the spiders still created
their webs at night. However, he noticed something unexpected – the web structure of
spiders on drugs was completely different from normal webs. The webs were different
sizes and had more spacing between each thread. Normal webs help spiders to easily
catch prey. Irregularly shaped webs were not good at catching prey because insects
could fly right through the large spaces. After his study, Peter knew that drugs were
bad for spiders.
Drugs significantly impaired spiders’ ability to make webs.
Retrieved from 1995 NASA report.
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Data Nuggets developed by Michigan State University fellows in the NSF BEACON and GK-12 programs Spiders under the influence Featured scientists: Chris Hawn from University of Maryland Baltimore County and Aaron Curry from Baltimore Ecosystem Study LTER Research Background: People use pharmaceutical drugs, personal care products, and other chemicals on a daily basis. For example, we take medicine when we are sick to feel better, and use perfumes and cologne to make ourselves smell good. After we use these chemicals, where do they go? Often, they get washed down our drains and end up in local waterways. Even our trash can contain these harmful chemicals. For example, when coffee grounds are thrown into the trash, caffeine gets washed into our waterways. Animals in waterways, like insects, live with these chemicals every day. Many insects are born and grow in the water, absorbing the drugs over their lifetime. As predators eat the insects, the chemicals are passed on, working their way through the food web. For example, spiders living along riverbanks feed off aquatic insects and absorb the drugs from their prey. Just as chemicals change human behavior, they change spider behavior as well! Effects of drugs on spiders have been studied since the 1940s. Dr. Peter Witt first discovered that chemicals change spider web construction. Peter gave caffeine, and a few other drugs, to spiders to see if they would build their webs during the day instead of at night, which is when they usually work. After giving his test spiders some of the drugs, the spiders still created their webs at night. However, he noticed something unexpected – the web structure of spiders on drugs was completely different from normal webs. The webs were different sizes and had more spacing between each thread. Normal webs help spiders to easily catch prey. Irregularly shaped webs were not good at catching prey because insects could fly right through the large spaces. After his study, Peter knew that drugs were bad for spiders. Drugs significantly impaired spiders’ ability to make webs. Retrieved from 1995 NASA report.

Data Nuggets developed by Michigan State University fellows in the NSF BEACON and GK-12 programs Chris (they/them), a current resident of Baltimore and a spider enthusiast, lives in a watershed that is affected by chemical pollution. They wanted to build on Peter’s research by looking at spider webs in the wild instead of in the lab. Chris knew that many types of spiders live near streams and are exposed to toxins through the prey they eat. Chris wanted to compare effects of the chemicals on spiders in rural and urban environments. By comparing spider webs in these two habitats, they could see how changed the webs are and infer how many chemicals are in the waterways. Chris worked with Aaron, a local high school teacher, to do this research. They collected images of spiderwebs in areas around Baltimore. They chose two sites: Baisman Run, a rural site far from the city, and Gwynns Run, an urban site close to the city. Chris traveled to the sites and took pictures of eight spiderwebs at each location. Chris and Aaron expected that urban streams would have higher concentrations of chemicals than rural areas because more people live in cities. When they got back to the lab, Aaron took the pictures and used a computer program to count the number of cells and calculate the total area of each web. These data offer a glimpse into whether spiders near Baltimore are exposed to harmful pharmaceutical chemicals and personal care products. If spiders are exposed to these chemicals, the webs will have fewer, but larger cells than a normal web. The cells will also have irregular shapes. A computer program was used to measure web properties such as the number of cells, web area, and cell area. The web on the left is from Baisman Run. The web on the right is from Gwynns Run. Field picture of an urban web using dark paper to make the web more visible for data collection.

Data Nuggets developed by Michigan State University fellows in the NSF BEACON and GK-12 programs 31200 31300 31400 31500 31600 31700 31800 31900 32000 32100 32200 rural urban Average area of web Habitat type 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500 550 rural urban Average number of cells in web Habitat type Which data will you graph to answer the question? Independent variable: __________________________________ Dependent variables: ______________________________________

_________________________________________

Below are graphs of the data : Identify any changes, trends, or differences you see in your graph. Draw arrows pointing out what you see and write one sentence describing what you see next to each arrow. 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 rural urban Average cell area Habitat type

Data Nuggets developed by Michigan State University fellows in the NSF BEACON and GK-12 programs Interpret the data: Make a claim that answers the scientific question. What evidence was used to write your claim? Reference specific parts of the tables or graphs. Explain your reasoning and why the evidence supports your claim. Connect the data back to what you learned about how spider web structures change when exposed to various drugs.