World Science Scholars

1.4 Working with Spiders

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    • What is an experiment you would conduct with spiders in a lab and what would you hope to learn?

    • Ffjf

    • Amino acids as the building block for the silk protein are generally colorless. Is there any way that a spider could be genetically modified, or somehow the prey be injected with something that would result in the spider producing a web with different colored silk? I would then love to learn if this has any implications on the web structure (both integrity and its ability to attract prey) when compared to a normal web.

    • brilliant! id love to see that as well

    • I would look at other environmental conditions, like in nature. Change elements like humidity, heat, wind and see if there are changes in web design.

    • I wonder if there were 2 spiders in the frame, would they cooperate?

    • I wonder what role frequencies play (if any)in the tautness and placement of thread? Peter Witt at NCState did experiments about spiders recognizing the difference between prey hitting the web and a raindrop hitting it.

    • I d like to learn how a spider reacts when a portion/strand of the web is disrupted. Would it mend the damaged portion or knit additional support structures.

    • The difference in terms of spider web chemical composition depending on which kind of spyder did it, I guess. Also, what if we change the enviormental temperature or humidity or pressure?

    • Amino acids as the building block for the silk protein are generally colorless. Is there any way that a spider could be genetically modified, or somehow the prey be injected with something that would result in the spider producing a web with different colored silk? I would then love to learn if this has any implications on the web structure (both integrity and its ability to attract prey) when compared to a normal web.

    • Spider eats prey and process of making slik start in spider body, I would like to see the detailed video on how skil is made from spider.

    • Hello Ladies and Gentlemen,

      An experiment to construct on a lab with a spider is to time how long it takes to build its web.

      I would put the spider in a box with a glass top.

      I would swat flies and open the glass lid on occassion to feed the flies, and count the ones fed.

      Over the course of days or hours, i would wait until the spider seems to have finished a web before ending the experiment.

    • I would like to see the visual representation of web formation.

    • Amino acids as the building block for the silk protein are generally colorless. Is there any way that a spider could be genetically modified, or somehow the prey be injected with something that would result in the spider producing a web with different colored silk? I would then love to learn if this has any implications on the web structure (both integrity and its ability to attract prey) when compared to a normal web

    • good

    • It would be interesting to know if two or more spiders would cooperate together. Could other criteria be applied, or would it depend on specific factors such as the species?

    • I would conduct an experiment to explore how spiders adjust their web-building behavior based on environmental vibration and the availability of food, with a focus on energy efficiency. In the first phase, I’d expose spiders to low-frequency vibrations and observe whether this alters their web’s geometry, thread placement, or tautness—revealing whether construction is sensitive to external cues. In the second phase, I’d provide the spiders with a steady supply of dead prey and observe whether they continue to build webs or reduce their effort over time. This could show whether spiders conserve energy when the functional need for a web is removed. Together, these experiments would highlight how living systems optimize material use and energy expenditure, offering insight into nature’s principles of efficient construction.

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