Core Practical 18 Planning Task

Core Practical 18 Planning task CPAC 2d and referencing 5b
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Next lesson we will be doing a core practical to investigate habituation in land snails.
At the start of the lesson you will be asked to devise a procedure to investigate the
hypothesis that snails habituate to the stimulus of touch with repeated stimulation?
After collecting data in the lesson you will also be asked to provide a biological
explanation for the results.
To pass your CPAC requirements for this you need to do not only be able to independently
plan this investigation and provide biological reasons for your results, you need to provide
at least two references that support planning plan and conclusions. You need to provide
at least one web based source and one a non-web based source.
You will need to cite these sources of information during the lesson, so the tasks you will
need to do before the lesson AND bring these along to the lesson are:
1. Come with your research printed out about the biological reasons that underpin
how and why habituation can occur in land snails, with the references you used for
this.
2. Come with your research printed out about what an appropriate methodology
would be for investigating the snails, with the references you used for this.
This should not be a written plan, but the key ideas surrounding how to go about
this investigation, including ideas about ethical considerations of the organism and
what stats test might be appropriate.
3. Make sure have a full reference for each and the date you accessed the
information.
Mark Scheme for passing CPAC 2d
To pass 2d the students plan needs to indicate how each variable is accounted for, that
repeats need to take place and the ethical considerations alongside health and safety
concerns.
A guide for this is as follows:
The indicative content below is not prescriptive and candidates are not required to include
all the material which is indicated as relevant. Additional content included in the response
must be scientific and relevant.
Independent variable:
 Indication that the snail is repeatedly touched a number of times until there is no
response.
Dependent variable
 Recognition that the stop watch needs to be started when the snail is touched and
stopped when both eye stalks are fully extended
Main control variables identified and how they are controlled:
 Age, size and species – snails that look roughly the same should be used for repeats
 Point where bud touches – eg the cotton wool bud should be poked in between the
snail’s eye stalks very gently (same strength of stimulus)
Clear statement about consideration for the safe handling of the snails before and after the
experiment
Other points for feedback, but does not prevent students achieving 2d:
 Other factors to be controlled:

Handling history – all snails should have developed in the same habitat.
Indication of timing and the difficulty in stopping the stop watch accurately for when
the eye stalks have returned to their original size. ie mention that the stopwatch
should be stopped when both eye stalks are fully extended.
Same cotton wool bud used each time.
Repeats carried out on the same surface.
Clean firm surface used
 Stats test to be carried out
 Washing hands before and after handling the snails.
EQUIPMENT
 Giant African land snail
 Dampened cotton wool bud
 Clean firm surface
 Stopwatch
METHOD
1. Collect one giant African land snail, and place it on a clean, firm surface. Allow the
snail to get used to its new surroundings for a few minutes until it has fully emerged
from its shell.
2. Dampen a cotton wool bud with water. Firmly touch the snail between the eye stalks
with the dampened cotton wool bud and immediately start the stopwatch.
3. Measure the length of time between the touch and the snail being fully emerged
from its shell once again, with its eye stalks fully extended.
4. Repeat the procedure in step 3 for a total of 15 touches, timing how long the snail
takes to re-emerge each time.
5. Record your results in a suitable table.
RESULTS & CALCULATIONS
A Spearman’s rank stats test looks for correlation between two sets of data. A value of
around -1 should be obtained. After plotting a graph, you should observe a negative
correlation – as the number of stimuli increase the time taken for the snail to reemerge
decreases. This reemergence time should remain at zero seconds after a certain number of
touches.

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Core Practical 18 Planning task CPAC 2d and referencing 5b

A guide for this is as follows:

Main control variables identified and how they are controlled:

 Other factors to be controlled:

 Giant African land snail

 Dampened cotton wool bud

 Clean firm surface

5. Record your results in a suitable table.

RESULTS & CALCULATIONS

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