Title:

Cricket Chirping Experiment to Determine What Factors Cause Cricket’s Chirp Speed

Author:

Gabby Greaney

Honors Science Research 1

Mod 3

February 5, 2018

Abstract:

In this experiment I was to find what causes crickets to chirp fast or slow. The different factors

were humidity, wind, atmospheric pressure, nearby crickets and temperature. Along the way I

found that none of the other factors changed the speed. The only one that changed was the

temperature. In conclusion, if temperature is the only factor that affects the chirping speed of

crickets then the chirping will get faster as the temperatures increase.
Introduction:

The objective of this lab was to find whether or not there is a single factor that affects the

chirping rate in crickets and if that single factor is air temperature. The other factors that could

affect this rate are humidity, wind, atmospheric pressure, and nearby crickets. Only male

crickets chirp and they do so by rubbing one wing against the other, or by rubbing their legs

against their wings. The research question is, do other factors affect how fast a cricket will

chirp? If temperature is the only factor that affects the chirping speed of crickets then the

chirping will get faster as the temperatures increase. I think temperature is the only factor

because generally insects and animals are less active/slower in colder temperatures.

Materials:

The materials needed for this lab are a computer, the lab paper, and a pencil.

Method/Procedure:

1. Log in to the compute and go to http://biol.co/cricketsci.

2. If you do not know about the scientific method complete that portion and if you do go

straight to the cricket portion of the website.

3. When you get to the cricket part you will first need to define the problem that can be

investigated scientifically.

4. Once you have your problem defined, you will have to collect information to help with

your investigation. You can read articles, reference books, or use the information

provided on the website.

 5. Now you must formulate a hypothesis. Choose what factor you think will affect the

chirping speed for the five choices (the factor you choose for your hypothesis is your

independent variable and the other four will be your controlled variables).

6. The values for the controlled variables have already been set to the standard values, but

you will need to set the value for your independent variable.

7. Enter your numbers they will give you a range to choose from, you will need to choose

nine numbers.

8. Record all your data in the tables that are given on the lab sheet.

9. After you have collected your data you will need to draw a conclusion.

10. When you have a conclusion, write up your findings using the scientific method.

My independent variable is air temperature, and my controlled variables are wind speed,

nearby crickets, atmosphere pressure, and humidity.

Data Tables and Graphs:

Effect of Wind Speed on Cricket Chirp

Rate
Wind Speed Chirp Rate
(m/sec) (chirps/min)
0 148
0.5 148
1 148
1.5 148
2 148
2.5 148
3 148
3.5 148
4 148
 Effect of Wind Speed on Cricket Chirp Rate Chirp
160
140

Chirp Rate (chirps/min) 120

100
80
Effect of Wind Speed on
60 Cricket Chirp Rate Chirp
Rate (chirps/min)
40
20
0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4
Wind Speed (min/sec)

Effect of Nearby Crickets on Cricket Chirp Rate

Wind Speed (m/sec) Chirp Rate (chirps/min)
0 148
2 148
4 148
6 148
8 148
10 148
12 148
14 148
16 148

Effect of Nearby Crickets on Cricket Chirp Rate

160
140
Chirp Rate (chirps/min)

120
100
80
Effect of Nearby Crickets
60 on Cricket Chirp Rate
Chirp Rate (chirps/min)
40
20
0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
Wind Speed (m/sec)
 Effect of Atmosphere on Cricket Chirp Rate
Pressure (mmHg) Chirp Rate (chirps/min)
680 148
690 148
700 148
710 148
720 148
730 148
740 148
750 148
760 148

Effect of Atmosphere on Cricket Chirp Rate

160
140
Chirp Rate (chirps/min)

120
100
80
Effect of Atmosphere on
60 Cricket Chirp Rate Chirp
Rate (chirps/min)
40
20
0
680 690 700 710 720 730 740 750 760
Pressure (mmHg)

Effect of Humidity on Cricket Chirp Rate

Humidity (%) Chirp Rate (chirps/min)
10 148
20 148
30 148
40 148
50 148
60 148
70 148
75 148
80 148
 Effect of Humidity on Cricket Chirp Rate
160
140

Chirp Rate (chirps/min) 120

100
80
Effect of Humidity on
60 Cricket Chirp Rate Chirp
Rate (chirps/min)
40
20
0
10 20 30 40 50 60 70 75 80
Humidity (%)

Effect of Temperature on Cricket Chirp Rate

Temperature (C) Chirp Rate (chirps/min)
5 4
10 40
15 76
20 112
25 148
30 184
35 220
40 256
45 292

Effect of Temperature on Cricket Chirp Rate

350

300
Chirp Rate (chirps/min)

250

200

150 Effect of Temperature on

Cricket Chirp Rate Chirp
100 Rate (chirps/min)

50

0
5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
Temperature (C)
Results:

After completing the lab, I found that temperature was the only factor that affected the speed

of crickets chirping.

Discussion:

My hypothesis was supported because no other factors affect how fast a cricket chirps. As I

performed the experiment I found that temperature was the only factor that actually changed

the cricket chirping speed. The four other factors remained 148 chirps per minute. This means

that crickets can technically tell the temperature. Next time you hear a cricket, analyze the

speed. If it’s chirping fast the temperature is warmer, and if it is chirping slow the temperature

will be colder. Since this lab was done virtually, a possible source of error could have been with

a computer malfunction. A fix to this could be to perform the experiment yourself in real life.

But errors with that could be that the controlled variables did not remain constant throughout

the experiment.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, there is in fact one single factor that affects the chirp rate of crickets and that is

air temperature. As the temperature increases the chirps per minute also increase. I think the

next step for scientists should be to find out why air temperature affects the chirp rate of

crickets.

References:

Scientific Method, webapp.gccaz.edu/academic/biology/scientific_method/.