Crickets in AP Biology

Students in AP Biology designed their own protocols to investigate a variable that they thought would influence the rate of cell respiration in crickets. Crickets, being a living animal, makes the design of the experiment particularly challenging. Students used a Vernier CO2 gas pressure sensor connected to their computer to measure CO2 produced by the crickets. Some of the variables they investigated were light levels, wavelength of light, high and low pitch tones, sounds of other crickets vs. frogs (a potential predator), size of cricket, and temperature.