5.+Sweet+Scents

**Question:** Are mealworms attracted to a certain scent?
 * // Sweet Scents //**

**Materials:** - 1 tbsp of vingear - 1 tbsp of watermelon-scented [|hand cream] - 1 tbsp of Life brand Fresh Mint mouth wash - 1 spray of perfume - a small box

There are none
 * Manipulated Variables: **

**Responding Variables:** The mealworm's choice of scented products.

**Hypothesis:** The mealworms will show a clear preference for one scent over the others and this will be shown by how many mealworms visit and stay at one scent.

**Predictions:** Sara Bellieveau: I predict the mealworms will go to the hand sanitizer because the scent is not too strong. Sarah Blackadar: I predict that the mealworms will avoid all scents because they are not used to being around strong scents. Carol Burroughs: I predict the mealworms will go to the mouthwash because it is refreshing. Emily Jay: I predict that the mealworms will be attracted to the perfume because it smells like me and they are used to my smell.

1. Place a different scent into each corner of a cardboard box. 2. Place three mealworms in the middle of the box, which will be scent free. 3. Observe where the mealworms go for 1 minute. 4. Repeat steps 1-3 with three other mealworms.
 * Plan/Procedure: **

The controlled variables for this experiment were the placement of each scent, the placement of the mealworms, the size of the box and the amount of scent.
 * Controlled Variables: **

**Observations, Data, Tables, Graphs:**
 * Trial || Observation ||
 * 1 || The three mealworms stayed in the centre of the box. There did not move from their initial placement. ||
 * 2 || The three mealworms quickly moved from their initial placement. Two chose to stay in the mouthwash and one chose the vinegar. ||

The mealworms in the second trial seemed to have a strong preference for a specific scent though not all the same scent. The pungent scents (mouthwash and vinegar) were the two most popular and the more floral scents (watermelon hand sanitizer and perfume) were completely avoided.
 * Conclusion: **

The first trial that we did was quite unsuccessful because the mealworms did not move from their first placement. We have had this issue before of inactivity and have attributed it perhaps due to the fact that they may be turning into pupas.
 * Comments: **