Spiders:
An Organism for Teaching Biology

Observing Spiders

Introduction

What organisms look like, how they behave, and how they interrelate, can be investigated in many ways. Observation is usually the first step. In this activity, you will make careful observations and records, then report and verify those observations, and ask questions based upon your observations.

First Observation

1. Add a prey item to your spider's habitat. Observe your spider and record its behavior on a separate piece of paper for 15 minutes. Write down everything you see it do.
2. Look at your spider under the dissecting microscope. Make a sketch large enough to fill most of the page. Label all of the parts of the spider you can.
3. Is your spider male or female? How can you tell? Indicate this on the sketch.
4. Look at the Golden Guide or How to Know the Spiders book to see if you can find out what kind of spider it is. Write this down at the top of your sketch.

 

Second Observation

1. Add a prey item to your spider's habitat. Observe and record your spider's behavior for 15 minutes.
2. Think of as many questions as you can about your spider based on what you have seen. Write them down.
3. Be prepared to show your spider to others in the class and to say a few words about what it looks like and what it does.
4. Write down one word that best describes what you have seen your spider do. Write this word on the board. What other words were written on the board? Is there a pattern? Are some spiders more active than others?
5. Can spiders be grouped (categorized) based upon their behavior? Explain.
   

Making Accurate Descriptions

Adapted from BSCS Investigations 1.1
The Powers of Observation

1. Work together; your lab table is a team. Observe your spiders together and discuss the similarities and differences you see in them. If appropriate, take measurements.
2. Choose one of the spiders and describe it. Have one person write down the description. Do not include any information about the container, just the spider. On a separate piece of paper write down the lab station number and which spider was described.
3. When your teacher signals, place the description and spiders in the middle of the table.
4. When your teacher tells you, rotate to the next table. Read the description and decide as a team which spider it refers to.
5. Prepare a chart with the headings: lab station number and spider fitting description.
6. Continue to rotate when your teacher tells you until you return to your starting point.
7. Your teacher will write the correct answers on the board. Check your table against this list. If your conclusions do not agree with the list, recheck the group of spiders and observations. Did you miss anything? Was the description complete?
   

 

Discussion

1. Which was easier: writing a clear description or selecting the specimen another team had described? Why?
2. For each description, what information could be added to make it more clear?
3. For each description, what information could be removed and still leave the description clear?
   

In what ways did reporting and verifying observations in this investigation increase your knowledge about spiders?

The University of Arizona
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics
General Biology Program for Secondary Teachers
warder@email.arizona.edu