Background of the Study
Hypothesis Hunt
Experimenting
Bug Biology
Results and Discussion
100

What is the name of the sap-feeding insect pest the study focused on? (Common name, scientific name, whichever you remember)

Scale Insect or Parthenolecanium quercifex

100

What do you call a prediction about how nature works that can be tested.

Hypothesis

100

What is the term for a study that only observes patterns without changing anything.

Observational study or surveying

100

What is the range of conditions where a species can live and reproduce.

A niche

100

What value tells you whether an effect is likely due to chance.

p-value

200

What type of habitat did this study take place?

City or urban area

200

In this kind of explanation, plant quality drives pest numbers.

Bottom up control or bottom up explanation

200

What is the term for a study where researchers change one factor on purpose.

Manipulative experiment

200

Insects are what type of animal - whose body temperature depends on the environment.

Ecotherms

200

What value tells you how big an effect is, not just whether it’s real.

R squared

300

What is the name for the effect where cities are warmer than nearby rural areas?

Urban heat island effect

300

What is the term for a possible explanation that is proposed in addition to your main one.

Alternative hypothesis

300

What is the term for repeating a treatment on many units so results aren’t due to a fluke.

Replication or replicates

300

What is the term for the number of offspring an organism produces.

Fecundity

300

Whst is a management action that could cool hot street tree sites.

Adding shade or canopy

Reducing pavement

400

What is the main pattern the authors wanted to explain? 

There are more scale insects on hotter urban trees.

400

This is the term for the “no effect” hypothesis that researchers try to find evidence against.

Null hypothesis

400

What is a hidden factor that varies along with the one you’re testing and can mislead you.

A confounding variable

400

This is the term for the number of individuals of a species per unit area.

Population density

400

What is the term for a loop where a change causes more of that same change.

Positive feedback loop

500

What is the type of tree the scale insects were found on in the study, commonly lining Raleigh’s streets.

Willow oak

500

What are the three alternative hypotheses the study compares.

1. Direct temperature effects

2. Host plant quality

3. Natural enemies

500

This is the term for a pattern where two things change together, but one doesn’t necessarily cause the other.

Correlation

500

What is the term for an insect that lays eggs inside or on another insect and kills it.

Parasitoid

500

What is the term for using natural enemies to control a pest.

Biological control