Lizard push ups video link:
A blog post describing the evolution of quiet crickets (the cost of sexual communication…)
https://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/news/061201_quietcrickets
Lab 5- Chemical energy and lizard push-ups
Complete and click the link above to submit Lab 5
Rubric for Lab 5 (5 pts)
You should write a full lab report that includes: an “Introduction”, a “Materials and Methods”, “Results”, “Discussion” sections- This lab report should be a
minimum of 300 words. Only the submission of a single Word document is required for this lab report. Please ensure that your document is either a -doc
OR .docx file to ensure that we can easily access your file from both a PC and Mac computer.
Introduction (1 pt)
What is the role of lizard push-ups in sexual reproduction? Why are scientists interested in studying them?
State one cost and one benefit to a lizard doing push-ups. (Hint: the benefits for a lizard doing push-ups are more intuitive, but think of what
a lizard may be risking or losing by doing push-ups).
Materials and Methods (1 pt)
In paragraph format and in past tense, describe the materials you needed and the methods you used to complete this lab. Similar to past
modules, we understand this is an online lab so this section is a little difficult, but remember, someone (who is not in this class) should be
able to complete the lab based on what you write here so think critically about what you should include
Results (2 pts)
Table of raw data of the number of pushups in the video and the time they took
All the steps of the calculation of the number of crickets needed to fuel 30 days of push-up displays, including:
How many calories were spent doing push-ups
How many calories there are in a cricket
Total number of crickets required for 30 days of push-ups.
Discussion (1 pt)
Discuss, in detail, some of the possible costs associated with lizard push-ups.
0 Think about this question both ecologically and energetically. Discuss in what situations the costs of a lizard
doing push-ups may outweigh the benefits.
1 pt will be deducted if lab report does not meet word count requirements and up 1 pt may be deducted based on clarity of writing and grammar mistakes- 0.5
pt will also be deducted if section headings (Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results and Discussion) are absent.
Lab reports should be submitted through the proper submission link in Blackboard. No late lab reports will be accepted for this assignment and no lab reports sent via
e-mail will be accepted-
Chemical energy and lizard pushups-Calculating the cost (in crickets) of a lizard showing off to defend its territory from other males
and to attract females. You will need the “Lizard Push-up” video above for this lab.
Assumptions we will make for this lab:
There are 121 dietary Calories (kilocalories) in 100 grams of crickets
The crickets (that the lizard we see in the video eats) weigh 0.5 grams each
It takes 0.1 dietary Calories of energy for the lizard to do one push-ups
The lizard in the video spends a total of 30 minutes of each day doing push-ups
During his 30 minutes of push-ups, he does them at the same rate that you see in the video
The lizard does these displays every day for 30 days during the breeding season
The question you need to answer is: How many crickets did the lizard need to eat to fuel his 30 days of push-up displays?
To find out how many total push-ups the lizard did during the breeding season, count how many push-ups he did in the video and
how long it took him to do them. You now have a push-up count per unit time that you can use to figure out how many push-ups
the lizard would do per day and how many he would do in 30 days. (For example, if he did one push-up per minute, then he would
be able to do 30 push-ups in 30 minutes. At 30 minutes per day, he would do 900 push-ups in 30 days.)
Calculate how many dietary Calories he spent doing all those push-ups. (Continuing our example, 900 push-ups x 0.1 calories = 90
dietary Calories) Note – you can leave your answers in dietary Calories, no need for conversion.
Calculate how many dietary Calories there are in a cricket.
Calculate how many crickets he would have to have eaten to fuel all those push-ups.
Data you need to show in lab report:
Your raw data of the number of push-ups in the video and the time they took
Show how you calculated your final answer, including all the steps (showing your work is the only way I can give you partial credit if
you make a silly math error along the way