Cricket Habitat
Submitted by Mrs. Alexander's 4th/5th grade class
THE AIR!
For moving the air currents throughout the cage our group has made a
round miniature swamp fan. The fan will take four AA batteries, and will
beep when low. The astronauts will change the batteries. The fan will
he hooked onto the top right side of the cage at a slight angle. It will
have a latch that slides into a slot on the side of the cage it will weigh
approximately two pounds. The fan will have a green and brown plant-like
appearance.
THE SMELL!
Our group has organized a way to freshen up the cricket's habitat. We'll
have a miniature square AIR FRESHENER The air freshener will weigh 3/4
kilogramwhen completely full. On the back of the air freshener there are
two prongs sticking out that slide into two slots on the side of the cage
connecting it to the vacuum tank. The air freshener will take four AA
batteries, and will beep when the batteries become low, and need to he
replaced. It will have a timer that will be set to spray every 8 hours.
This will be triggered by the vacuum turning off (see animal waste for
details) The cage will then have an unscented smell.
THE ANIMAL'S WASTE!
Our group has made a plan to take away the cricket's waste! The cage
will be .75 meters meters long by 1 meter wide. Attached to the side of
the cage will be a tank that will be .25 meters long by 1 meter wide.
This will make the total cage 1 meter by 1 meter. A plastic tube enters
the cage through a small hole where the cage and tank connect. The tube
has a sensor that detects the cricket's waste. The end of the tube is
covered with a screen so that the cricket will not get sucked into the
tube. On the end of the tubethat is on the inside of the tank is a vacuum
with a screen cover that opens and shuts. Every 7 hours and 58 minutes
a timer will cause the screen cover to open, and the vacuum will suck
up the cricket's waste. It will be stored in the sealed tank. The vacuum
will run for 2 minutes. When the vacuum turns off it will trigger the
air freshener to spray it's scent.
The air freshener and the vacuum will run off the same timer and batteries.
(see THE AIR for details) The vacuum will weigh about 3/4 kilograms.
Note: The cricket's droppings may be too small and will sink into the
dirt as fertilizer.
FOOD/WATER!
Our cricket will need some kind of food. Our group is putting ten, two
inch long earth worms in the soil. The soil will be dirt and soil mixed,
and will be about 5 inches deep.
We will have two, 5 in. x 5-in. patches of cereal wheat grain growing
on the soil. We will also have three 5in. x 5in. areas of rice grain.
The rest of the tank will be covered in grass, wood chips, and a few rocks.
The plants will be planted in the dirt using P-4, a gooey substance that
keeps the plants moist. This will keep the plants and soil wet and therefore
they will not need to be watered. The cricket will get its water from
the grains and grass when it eats the plants. The cricket will eat the
roots of the plants and eat on the earthworms.
THE SLEEP!
Our group will place a variety of different sized rocks on top of 5
inches of soil mixed with dirt. The cricket will burrow into the dirt
and rest there when not active. The rocks will provide a place for the
cricket to rest or sleep. There will also be wood chips in the cage that
the cricket can borrow under when it rests.
EXTRA INFORMATION!
Our group has made a way to make our our own energy/power Our air fresher
and suction tank run off of the same four batteries. Our swamp fan runs
off`it's own four batteries. At the top of the cage we will put a yellow
Christmas light that will shine for the whole trip. It will give off about
two degrees of heat in the cricket's cage.
Click on picture to see more detail
|