Name_________________

Beetle, it’s cold outside!

Featured scientists: Caroline Williams & Andre Szejner Sigal, University of California,
Berkeley, & Nikki Chambers, Biology Teacher, West High School, Torrance, CA

Research Background:

Walking across a snowy field or mountain, you might not notice many living things. But if
you dig into the snow, you’ll find a lot of life!

Until recently, climate change scientists thought warming in winter would be good for
most species. Warmer winters would mean that species could avoid the cold and would
not need to deal with freezing temperatures as often or for as long. Caroline is a
scientist who is thinking about winter climate change in a whole new way. Snow covers
the soil, acting like an insulating blanket. Many species rely on the snow for protection
from the winter’s cold. When temperatures climb in the winter, snow melts and leaves
the soil uncovered for longer periods of time. This leads to the shocking pattern that
warmer temperatures actually means the soil gets colder!

Caroline is interested in how species that rely on the snow will respond to climate
change. She studies a species of insect called lady beetles. Lady beetles are
ectotherms, meaning their body temperature matches that of their environment.
Because climate change is reducing the amount of snow in the lady beetle habitat,
Caroline wanted to know how they would respond to these changes.

Caroline and her team, Andre and Nikki, decided to investigate what happens to lady
beetles when they are exposed to longer periods of time in cold temperatures. When
soil temperatures drop below freezing (0℃), lady beetles go into a chill coma, or a
temporary, reversible paralysis. When temperatures are below freezing, it is so cold that
they are unable to move. When temperatures rise back above freezing, they wake from
their chill comas. When lady beetles are in chill comas, they are easier for predators to
catch because they can’t escape. They are also unable to find food or mates. Scientists
can measure how fast it takes lady beetles to recover from chill coma, called chill coma
recovery time, and use this as a measure of their performance.

They designed an experiment to test whether the amount of time lady beetles spend in
freezing temperatures affects how long it takes them to wake up from a chill coma.
Caroline thought that lady beetles exposed to lengthy freezing temperatures would be
harmed because freezing causes tissue damage and the insect must use more energy
to survive. She predicted that the longer the lady beetles had been exposed to the cold,
the longer it would take them to wake up from their chill comas.

Data Nuggets developed by Michigan State University fellows in the NSF BEACON and GK-12 programs
1
 Name_________________

To begin the experiment, Andre

and Nikki placed groups of lady
beetles in tubes. They then placed
the tubes in an ice bath, bringing
the temperature down to 0℃, the
point when lady beetles enter chill
coma. They varied the amount of
time each tube was in the ice baths
and tested chill coma recovery
times after 3, 24, 48, 72, or 96
hours. After removing the tubes
from the ice baths, they put the lady
beetles on their backs with their
legs in the air and left them at room
temperature, 20℃. Andre and Nikki
timed how long it took each beetle Beetles in their pre-testing habitat are on the right;
to wake up and turn itself over. tubes with beetles about to be immersed in a cooler
filled with crushed ice are on the left.
In the experiment, they used two
different populations of lady beetles. Population 1 had been living in the lab for several
weeks before the experiment began. They were not in great health and some had
started to die. In order to make sure they had enough beetles for the experiment,
Caroline purchased more lady beetles, which she called Population 2. Population 2 only
spent a few days living in the lab before testing and were in much better health.
Caroline noted the differences in these populations and thought their age, health, and
background might affect how they respond to the experiment. She decided to track
which population the lady beetles were from so she could analyze the data separately
and see if the health differences between Population 1 and 2 changed the results.

Scientific Question: Does the amount of time lady beetles spend at freezing
temperatures affect how long it takes for them to wake up from a chill coma?

What is the hypothesis? Find the hypothesis in the Research Background and underline
it. A hypothesis is a proposed explanation for an observation, which can then be tested
with experimentation or other types of studies.

Data Nuggets developed by Michigan State University fellows in the NSF BEACON and GK-12 programs
2
 Name_________________

Draw a model demonstrating the impact of climate change on lady beetles:

1. Include the terms climate change, air temperature, snow cover, soil temperature,
ectotherms, and chill coma in your model. Write out the name of each variable and put a
box around it. If necessary, you may use other terms in your model as well.
2. Add arrows to connect the boxes. Arrows represent the interactions between the variables in
the system. For example, you can use arrows to show positive or negative effects of one
variable on another. Use the direction of the arrow to show the direction of the relationships.
3. Once you have drawn your arrows, label them with the type of interaction. For example,
label an arrow with the words “negatively affects” if the arrow connects a variable that has a
negative impact on another.

Scientific Data:

Use the data below to answer the scientific question:

Beetle Population 1 Beetle Population 2

Standard Standard
Time exposed Mean chill error (SE) Time exposed Mean chill error (SE)
to freezing coma chill coma to freezing coma chill coma
temperature recovery time recovery temperature recovery time recovery
(hours) (seconds) time (hours) (seconds) time
3 212 44.3 3 41 2.6
24 136 25.0 24 47 2.2
48 100 15.5 48 48 2.1
72 63 6.4 72 53 3.7
96 119 25.0 96 50 4.6
*Standard error (SE) tells us how confident we are in our estimate of the mean, and depends
on the number of replicates in an experiment and the amount of variation around the mean.
A large SE means we are not very confident, while a small SE means we are more confident.
Data Nuggets developed by Michigan State University fellows in the NSF BEACON and GK-12 programs
3
 Name_________________

What data will you graph to answer the question?

Independent variable(s):

Dependent variable(s):

Draw your graph below: 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.

300
Mean chill coma recovery time (seconds)

250

200

150

100

50

0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Time exposed to freezing temperature (hours)

Interpret the data:

Make a claim that answers the scientific question.

Data Nuggets developed by Michigan State University fellows in the NSF BEACON and GK-12 programs
4
 Name_________________

What evidence was used to write your claim? Reference specific parts of the table or
graph.

Explain your reasoning and why the evidence supports your claim. Connect the data
back to what you learned about the effects of cold temperatures on lady beetles and
how this relates to their health and recovery time.

Did the data support Caroline, Andre, and Nikki’s hypothesis? Use evidence to explain
why or why not. If you feel the data was inconclusive, explain why.

Your next steps as a scientist: Science is an ongoing process. What new question(s)
should be investigated to build on Caroline, Andre, and Nikki’s research? How do your
questions build on the research that has already been done?

Data Nuggets developed by Michigan State University fellows in the NSF BEACON and GK-12 programs
5