Living Together: A rat and mouse
by Stephen Shortall and Eric Schmidt
Maze Mice
by Ilene Spitzer and Elizabeth Smith
Ilene - Have you ever wondered if animals gain knowledge as they become older? I wonder this all of the time. Our of the many animals in Mr. Purnell's classroom, I choose four mice in my experiment to figure out the answer for this question. For this experiment, older and younger mice were needed. My experiment was to build a maze and time how long it took the younger mice to find the end of the maze in comparision to the how long it took the older mice.
Liz - Even though you might not think that a few months difference in age isn't very much, for a mouse it is a big difference. Mice have a shorter life span than humans do.
Scaredy Rat of a Cat
by Lukas Fried, Ben Perwien, and Jeff Bird
Jeff - Whenever rats see each other, they sniff each other. But what if a familiar rat has another scent? That is what we are aiming to figure out. Can rats identify by scent alone?
Lukas - Ever wonder if small rodents, like mice and rats, get afraid of a cat's smell? Well, this lab will answer this question for you by using live animals to test this theory. Click and find out about the lab and HOW YOU CAN DO IT!
Ben - What we are going to do is see if rats are afraid of cats. We do this with cat hair!!! Check it out. You would never believe what happens.
Genetic Characteristics of Animals
by Matt Shrensel and Aja Houston
Our mission was to learn about animal behavior based on genetics. We experimented by using animals (lab rats, for instance) and props such as mazes to test them. Click and find out about our experiment!
Shape Recognition
by Julia Carlton and Beth Stivison
Beth - How smart do you think rats are? No one knows for sure. Can they tell the difference between shapes? And if they can, can they understand that the different shapes can represent things?
Julia - You will need a circular shape and a rectangular shape, along with a rat, and some sort of reward. A cage to put the rat in, and a chart to record the data into is all that is necessary to complete the experiment.
Senses, Feelings, and Mind of a Hamster
by Reeve Ridgeway and Sam Finesurrey
Reeve - In genetics, we have studied traits, recent science experiments that are taking place, but the most fun was using the animals in the lab room for a science experiment approved by Mr. Purnell. For example, my partner Sam Finesurrey and I experimented with a hamster named Elmo, by seeing where his smelling sense and feelings take him. We made a new environment for Elmo to perform this experiment. We let Elmo get used to this environment so his mind would not be confused. This would also help Elmo concentrate on what was necessary to concentrate on so we could collect the data we needed. We were testing the hamsters reactions to the smells and his response and actions based on what the hamster smelled.
Sam - We tested three different hamsters to see if they cared more about each other or food (grain). The results were very interesting and will be explained further in the web page. You will examine many interesting facts in general. Then of course you will find out the results of our experiment.
Spiny Egyptian Mice have a better memory than fury mice.
by Lauren Blackwood, Clare Stein, and Leean Thomas
Clare - Have you ever wondered if different species of mice had different levels of memory and intelligence? Nobody really knows if different kinds of mice are smarter than each other… yet. Are the Egyptian Spiny mice more intelligent than the Furry mice, or vice-versa? Well, in this project, we are going to try and find out. Our genetics group will put a certain shape in the Egyptian Spiny mouse’s cage and Furry mouse’s cage for about a week. We have built a simple maze in the shape of an X, and we will put the mice, one at a time, in the center. There are four corridors leading off the center, and different shapes are at the end of each hallway. If the mouse goes through the hallway with the correct (or familiar) shape at the end, that proves that they have a certain level of intelligence and memory, and we will give them a small treat if they go to the right shape.
Leean - Have you ever wondered what type of mice has a better sense of memory? In our research, we tested an Egyptian Spiny mouse and a Furry mouse to see which of them had a better memory.
Lauren - Have you ever wondered who is smarter out of a Furry Mouse and an Egyptian Spiny Mouse? Have you ever thought about I f they are attracted to color or to food?
Two different species of mice will live together in harmony when nursed and raised together.
by Alissa Cherry and Ali Hodgson
Ali - Spiny and Furry mice are naturally aggressive toward one another. My report shows a unique contradiction of this normal behavior.
Alissa - Have you ever wondered if two different species of mice can live together? Well once you read this you are going to find out.
The female rat (Ziggy) will find the reward faster than the male rat (Bandit).
by Lorenzo Heholt
I will prove that Ziggy and Gooey, the female rats, will be smarter than Bandit and Midnight, the male rats. I have produced a maze that mother the female and male rats will use so there is no problem with size and measurements. All the rates will be timed fairly, and the gender that has the maze completed in the fastest amount of time will be rewarded as the smartest rat gender.
The male mouse will find the cottage cheese faster than the female mouse, female rat, and male rat.
by Sally Kral and Arielle Furrey
Arielle - Have you ever wondered which animal is faster thinker? Well, for this lab report, we tested a male rat, a female rat, a male mouse, and a female mouse. We put them in a box and saw how long it took each of them to find the cottage cheese.
Sally - Have you ever wondered which rodent is smarter, a rat or a mouse? Well, in this report that is exactly what we tested. We took a female rat named Gooey, a male rat named Bandit, a female mouse named Speckles, and a male mouse named Coffee & Cream and tested to see which rodent would find the cottage cheese faster.
