Diamondback Terrapins and Color Memory
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Can turtles remember the color of their food tray? You train ten Diamondback terrapins for one week to eat only from a blue tray. After training, you place blue, red, and yellow trays side by side and release the hungry turtles.
Over three days, you rearrange the tray positions each time. This tests whether the turtles follow the blue color or just go to the same spot.
Most terrapins headed for the blue tray regardless of its position.
Hypothesis
The hypothesis is that the Diamondback terrapin will be able to recognize colors.
Method & Materials
You will need to purchase 10 Diamondback terrapins, and prepare three feeding trays of the same size and shape but of different colors. You will then train the turtles for a week to eat only from a blue color food tray. After the week of training, you will arrange the trays in a row and place the food in each of the 3 trays. Release the hungry turtles 1 meter away from the trays and count how many turtles go to each tray.
You will need 10 Diamondback terrapins, a blue feeding tray, a red feeding tray, a yellow feeding tray, and small fish as turtle bait or turtle feed.
Results
The results of the experiment showed that most of the Diamondback terrapin turtles headed for the blue tray. This indicates that turtles are able to differentiate between colors and see well at night.
Why do this project?
This science project is interesting because it tests the ability of turtles to recognize colors, which is something that has not been studied in depth before.
Also Consider
Consider conducting the experiment in a dark room that does not have light, or using other species of turtles or tortoises. Alternatively, try sealing the trays with plastic food wrap and observe if there is any difference in the behaviour of the turtles.
Full project details
Additional information and source material for this project are available below.Related videos
These videos explain the science behind this project and demonstrate key concepts used in the experiment.
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