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Helpful Hints for the Bessbug Challenge
• Dental floss should be non-waxed so the knot doesn’t slip out. • White construction paper works well and shows up the black beetles. • We did not use a box lid. Instead we used 2 sheets of construction paper on a table and kept putting a second sheet in front of the bessbug as it got to the edge of the sheet it was on. • We started with 5 pennies on the sled and added another each time the bessbug pulled the sled forward. • We tested only one beetle at a time. • Plastic Petri dishes work very well for observing the beetles if some students don’t wish to hold them. If a bessbug flips onto its back, use a pencil to turn it over. This helps because the bugs grasp your finger. • A smaller square of aluminum foil, 11/2 inches worked well. • We lassoed our bessbugs by letting them walk through the lasso and tightening it at the “waist.” |
  Recording the Research  |