Need help with EPQ

Kron · Jun 10, 2015

For those that don't know EPQ stands for Extended Project Qualification. It is a qualification here in the UK where you choose a topic or subject of any kind imaginable and do a project and research etc about it. Obviously I'd like to do one on arachnology and in particular I have a Steatoda grossa with and egg sac so I think it would be awesome if I could study something about the spiderlings when they hatch as it would give a great sample size. The only problem is I can't decide what my aim or question is. I have a couple ideas such as

interactions between S. grossa spiderlings after using one another's webs (so I swap pairs round every now and then to see if by living in each others webs they become more tolerant of one another, don't think they would but it's an idea )
Study on themorphological changes to S. grossa as they develop (seems a bit boring to me)
Intelligience of different tarantulas (don't know how i'd do this one but still it'd be awesome)

So if anyone has any other good ideas on what I should do or how I could improve one of the ideas I already have I'd be eternally grateful!!

This would be perfect for me as I wish to go to uni to do zoology next year so this would be perfect for my personal statement and all that if I could get this right!

---------- Post added 06-10-2015 at 06:51 PM ----------

Bear in mind though that I'm in sixth form so I wouldn't be able to do anything overly advanced like using SEM's or anything like that. I have to go in depth with my chosen topic but I don't have the equipment to do anything too fancy

Curious jay · Jun 10, 2015

S. grossa are pretty tolerant of one another anyway in my experience, wether from the same brood or not.

Could try tolerance of one another from multiple egg sacks as the female will just produce a sack after pretty much every meal now.

If you wanna do some type of intelligence test... Try grab a couple jumping spiders. Seen a video before of them figuring routes to grab prey items from one elevated area to another, was interesting to watch.

Kron · Jun 11, 2015

Thanks a lot! I also considered container size and how it effects the shape and density of their webs and in turn their hunting success rate with those webs..? Also for feeding the spiderlings would they be able to handle small fruit flies or would springtails work better? (I haven't bred this particular species before)

Curious jay · Jun 11, 2015

Steatoda spiderlings? Once they're independent they will take on prey larger than themselves. Fruit flies will be fine.

Kron · Jun 11, 2015

Awesome ^_^

The Snark · Jun 11, 2015

Speaking as an academic I know exactly what the class and instructor is after. You've had it pounded home repeatedly in your class(es).
First, narrow your topic down to certain specifics. It doesn't matter if it's spider husbandry or painting a house. Next, use proper established scientific methodology. How great a degree and how accurate will depend on how advanced your class is. IE, Theory --> Establishing supporting facts --> Working hypothesis.

General rules. Never assume. Use facts. Always use proper terminologies as common and proper Latin names. Start with an overview stating your purpose and goal and the intended steps you are going to take. Cite published white papers whenever possible. With the actual analysis you need to eliminate variables.

So for an example. Gestation period, sperm retention and reproduction of the common false widow, Steatoda Grossa, under controlled circumstances. Now go into the details of the subjects. Age, environment and so on. Establish and carefully document time lines. Have multiple subjects to eliminate anomalies in individual animals. Document your day to day observations. Finally, carefully, concisely and accurately write up your conclusions.

The instructor doesn't care about the spider aspect at all. What is desired is you demonstrate your focus, aptitude, methodology, attention to details, and lack of making guesses and assumptions outside of proper analytical procedures. The real goal of these paper is demonstrating your potential in your abilities to go further up the academic ladder. The instructor glances over these papers grading them from potential menial laborer not quite as capable as the average poodle at analytical notation on up to doctoral thesis bound student.

Good luck.

PS Boring is good! Very desirable. Flashy fancy noise automatically downgrades your paper. It's all about facts, how you establish them, apply them, and what conclusions you arrive at from them. Getting lost in the intimate details of arachnid copulation is fine, highly desirable in fact. Using modern slang and unscientific wording and assumptions moves your paper slowly towards the trash bin at the side of the instructors desk.

PPS Using 'popular' noise, assumptions and so on, is academic suicide. As example, the instructor reads your effort and gets to 'vaccines are known to cause developmental problems in children[SUP]1[/SUP]' or 'almost as deadly as black widows[SUP]2[/SUP]'. S/he stops reading and gives you a grade above fail.

[SUP]1[/SUP]Citation required. Unverified assumption.
[SUP]2[/SUP]Death to bite incidence peer reviewed paper needs to be cited. 'Black widow' not proper terminology.

(I could write the paper for you right now but I think you get the drift. Demonstrate your academic ability and show the instructor all those hours talking at the black board actually penetrated your skull)

Kron · Jun 12, 2015

The Snark said:
Speaking as an academic I know exactly what the class and instructor is after. You've had it pounded home repeatedly in your class(es).
First, narrow your topic down to certain specifics. It doesn't matter if it's spider husbandry or painting a house. Next, use proper established scientific methodology. How great a degree and how accurate will depend on how advanced your class is. IE, Theory --> Establishing supporting facts --> Working hypothesis.

General rules. Never assume. Use facts. Always use proper terminologies as common and proper Latin names. Start with an overview stating your purpose and goal and the intended steps you are going to take. Cite published white papers whenever possible. With the actual analysis you need to eliminate variables.

So for an example. Gestation period, sperm retention and reproduction of the common false widow, Steatoda Grossa, under controlled circumstances. Now go into the details of the subjects. Age, environment and so on. Establish and carefully document time lines. Have multiple subjects to eliminate anomalies in individual animals. Document your day to day observations. Finally, carefully, concisely and accurately write up your conclusions.

The instructor doesn't care about the spider aspect at all. What is desired is you demonstrate your focus, aptitude, methodology, attention to details, and lack of making guesses and assumptions outside of proper analytical procedures. The real goal of these paper is demonstrating your potential in your abilities to go further up the academic ladder. The instructor glances over these papers grading them from potential menial laborer not quite as capable as the average poodle at analytical notation on up to doctoral thesis bound student.

Good luck.

PS Boring is good! Very desirable. Flashy fancy noise automatically downgrades your paper. It's all about facts, how you establish them, apply them, and what conclusions you arrive at from them. Getting lost in the intimate details of arachnid copulation is fine, highly desirable in fact. Using modern slang and unscientific wording and assumptions moves your paper slowly towards the trash bin at the side of the instructors desk.

PPS Using 'popular' noise, assumptions and so on, is academic suicide. As example, the instructor reads your effort and gets to 'vaccines are known to cause developmental problems in children[SUP]1[/SUP]' or 'almost as deadly as black widows[SUP]2[/SUP]'. S/he stops reading and gives you a grade above fail.

[SUP]1[/SUP]Citation required. Unverified assumption.
[SUP]2[/SUP]Death to bite incidence peer reviewed paper needs to be cited. 'Black widow' not proper terminology.

(I could write the paper for you right now but I think you get the drift. Demonstrate your academic ability and show the instructor all those hours talking at the black board actually penetrated your skull)

Well don't be hasty, the first thing I have to do is come up with a couple good initial ideas to place in the application for the epq, the epq itself will continue from now till January, as there is a slightly limited number (50) who can do it. So the idea has to be relatively concrete and also quite compact, one involving the S. grossa spiderlings would be ideal but as it's a long project there may be other directions I could take. The proposal deadline is next wednesday

---------- Post added 06-12-2015 at 09:37 PM ----------

Ok I have an initial draft for the proposal which I may need help with to whittle down a bit:
"A study of the web structure of S. grossa and what prey do they have the greatest success at catching with those webs in order to determine the species's effect on local ecosystems as their range increases from south England as well as their possible effectiveness as biological control agents"

---------- Post added 06-12-2015 at 09:45 PM ----------

Another option though could be to study mating and all that of D. lapidosus as I have a bunch of them in my garden and one unmated female as one of my collection at the moment so if I could find a male that'd be interesting as a few weeks ago I found a male and a female living in the same retreat, interacting with one another so it seems like it might also be pretty interesting..

---------- Post added 06-12-2015 at 09:49 PM ----------

Oh and another Idea would be to look into why ladybird spiders are so endangered as I know where I could buy some and so see the survival rates of their young vs other spiders as well as how readily they reproduce..

The Snark · Jun 12, 2015

You are being asked to write a full on scientific paper or a status report. From the subject you chose I assumed it was scientific. Is your class oriented towards a given field and if so, which? Business management, biology, mathematics, botany, physics, etc??? Or completely wide open?

Regardless, you are narrowed to one of two venues. Either an analysis along scientific lines or status, in the state, manner, position or attitude of. So you could end up writing your paper on the present viability of a supermarket chain and it's standing in the marketplace, the existence of the Higgs Boson, probable parthenogenesis in the ancestry of a genus, or trends in global warming.

Care to narrow it down or is it that wide open?

C

Kron · Jun 12, 2015

The Snark said:
You are being asked to write a full on scientific paper or a status report. From the subject you chose I assumed it was scientific. Is your class oriented towards a given field and if so, which? Business management, biology, mathematics, botany, physics, etc??? Or completely wide open?

Regardless, you are narrowed to one of two venues. Either an analysis along scientific lines or status, in the state, manner, position or attitude of. So you could end up writing your paper on the present viability of a supermarket chain and it's standing in the marketplace, the existence of the Higgs Boson, probable parthenogenesis in the ancestry of a genus, or trends in global warming.

Care to narrow it down or is it that wide open?

C

It's absolutely anything I want, I chose to do a scientific study of some spider or other and must now come up with a good proposal in order to apply here's a brief summary of what must be done in general:
Choose an area of interest and draft their project title and aims.
Plan, research and carry out their project.
Keep a production log of all stages of the project production, reviewing and evaluating their progress.
Complete the project product.
Prepare and deliver a presentation.
Review the outcome of their project and presentation.
During the EPQ, they will learn to:

manage – identify, design, plan, and complete a project (or task within a group project), applying organisational skills and strategies to meet their stated objectives
use resources/research – obtain and select information from a range of sources, analyse data, apply it relevantly, and demonstrate understanding of any appropriate connections and complexities of their topic
develop and realise – use a range of skills, including using new technologies, to solve problems, to take decisions critically, creatively and flexibly, and to achieve their aims
review – evaluate the outcome, including their learning and performance.

I could have chosen to do whatever I like whether it be an art exhibition or a social study or whatever as long as I did the above.
Whatever the case all that is mostly irrelevant, all I need right now is a solid starting point that will convince them that my idea is worth the time and money to pay for the tutor. It is completely independent of my other courses. There are no classes it is all my own independent full on study, as if I were doing a real scientific paper or something.

So my idea has to be one I will be able to follow through with and continue to study (and deviate from if I wish) for the course of now till next january

---------- Post added 06-12-2015 at 10:39 PM ----------

It's very full on

---------- Post added 06-12-2015 at 10:43 PM ----------

So overall there's a production log, the written report, the evidence and the presentation. This qualification is worth a lot and makes you stand out a tonne when applying to university

The Snark · Jun 12, 2015

The S. Grossa is basic scientific methodology. All of the other three concepts are straightforwards statistical analysis. Study, acquire facts, establish a status quo, and if need be, extrapolate and make a projection or multiple projections depending on variables as the surface.
Statistical analysis requires a lot of fact gathering, often using critical or even destructive scientific analysis. You want to eliminate all anomalies and achieve a 'standard model' from which you can establish present status and if you want, future projections. In the case of imminent extinction you need to attempt to produce and document factors causing population decline.
It's all about research.

So narrow it down and bounce it off people like this forum. Your best place to start would be a subject that has already been researched so you can cite already established facts rather than coming up with your own through the Sci methodology process.

It is very much desired in this program that you demonstrate project management skills. Step by step methodology in a careful well thought out order. That should write the framework regardless of what you choose to study.

---------- Post added 06-13-2015 at 04:54 AM ----------

An excellent example of what you are being asked to accomplish is the Higgs Boson. From the basic theory, the analysis that determined what facts are needed, the construction of the LHC and all that was entailed, and the final conclusion. All is well documented step by step.
Regardless of the study, the basic methodology remains the same. It can be as simple as choosing the correct food for your dog on out to black holes.

Kron · Jun 12, 2015

so which is your favourite personally?

The Snark · Jun 12, 2015

Your favorite, or mine, shouldn't be a major factor. The main determining factor.
Start by making a flow chart. Put your ultimate goal at the far end. Then work backwards and forwards through the steps you need to take to meet the goal. These intermediate steps are weighed against the resources you have available. The availability of these resources is, barring unlimited funding from a government or underwriting and grants from organizations, is the primary determining factor in a wide open scenario. This is also something you document carefully as part of your project management.

So is the ability to transmigrate from web to web going to land your butt in the jungles of Borneo for 6 months doing field observations? Are you going to need 16 identical dogs to test appetite, weight gain, muscle density, lethargy, and a long series of blood analysis giving an accurate charting of protein uptake?

So your resources temper and partly dictate what you are going to study. If you fall short in resources along the way, the missing resources need to be carefully analyzed, their availability, cost, and supporting resources all carefully worked out.

In your case it sounds like simplicity should be dictating things. So let's look at S Grossa webs. You need a number of specimens, enough to give a full spectrum analysis. As always, the top and bottom X percent is thrown out as anomalies or irregularities. Next is access to published resources regarding this exact spider. If you use a similar spider you have to establish commonality in another series of tests and or research.

Then you break it down. Field study vs controlled environment. Each has it's advantages and drawbacks, and they all need to be notated and explained.

So you start with your flow chart, taking each step to reach your goal into account. This is your management framework. Everything reports back to management as you progress. You obtain what resources are needed for each step. Be it volunteer spiders or papers published on these spiders. Then you control, describe or eliminate variables with each step. Webs destroyed in the field. Spiders unwilling to build webs in the lab. Each step gets analyzed until you achieve a predictable methodology. Spider X does Y under Z circumstance.

Make sense so far?

Kron · Jun 13, 2015

The Snark said:
Your favorite, or mine, shouldn't be a major factor. The main determining factor.
Start by making a flow chart. Put your ultimate goal at the far end. Then work backwards and forwards through the steps you need to take to meet the goal. These intermediate steps are weighed against the resources you have available. The availability of these resources is, barring unlimited funding from a government or underwriting and grants from organizations, is the primary determining factor in a wide open scenario. This is also something you document carefully as part of your project management.

So is the ability to transmigrate from web to web going to land your butt in the jungles of Borneo for 6 months doing field observations? Are you going to need 16 identical dogs to test appetite, weight gain, muscle density, lethargy, and a long series of blood analysis giving an accurate charting of protein uptake?

So your resources temper and partly dictate what you are going to study. If you fall short in resources along the way, the missing resources need to be carefully analyzed, their availability, cost, and supporting resources all carefully worked out.

In your case it sounds like simplicity should be dictating things. So let's look at S Grossa webs. You need a number of specimens, enough to give a full spectrum analysis. As always, the top and bottom X percent is thrown out as anomalies or irregularities. Next is access to published resources regarding this exact spider. If you use a similar spider you have to establish commonality in another series of tests and or research.

Then you break it down. Field study vs controlled environment. Each has it's advantages and drawbacks, and they all need to be notated and explained.

So you start with your flow chart, taking each step to reach your goal into account. This is your management framework. Everything reports back to management as you progress. You obtain what resources are needed for each step. Be it volunteer spiders or papers published on these spiders. Then you control, describe or eliminate variables with each step. Webs destroyed in the field. Spiders unwilling to build webs in the lab. Each step gets analyzed until you achieve a predictable methodology. Spider X does Y under Z circumstance.

Make sense so far?

Well in the end I decided to do instead a comparative study on web hunting spiders (S. grossa) and ground hunting spiders (D. lapidosus) and how their behaviour and characteristics link to their hunting style etc. Think it will give me a lot of room to deviate as well as lots to talk about plus it's a little catchier for when I'm applying. I just mated my D. lapidosus to get my other half of the sample https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbKYKbaK08E

The Snark · Jun 13, 2015

Kron said:
Well in the end I decided to do instead A comparative study on web hunting spiders (S. grossa) and ground hunting spiders (D. lapidosus) and how their behaviour and characteristics link to their hunting style etc. Think it will give me a lot of room to deviate as well as lots to talk about plus it's a little catchier for when I'm applying. I just mated my D. lapidosus to get my other half of the sample https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbKYKbaK08E

Title done.
1-(Describe spider A) (Describe spider B). Describe circumstance/environment of each. Describe commonalities as prey, environment, habitat etc. Describe differences. Cite references throughout.
2-(Optional) If desired, explain/expound theories here.
3-Describe observation methodology.
4-Detail observations in a concise time line.
4.5-Denote deviations from expected norms.
5-(Optional)Extrapolate supporting facts of theories, arriving at a tentative hypothesis.
6-Conclusions. Cite similar papers that support these conclusions if available.

If experimentation is used, have control, non experimented upon, animals to compare to.

Simple. Keep in mind, you don't need to limit yourself to just citing a reference to a white paper. You can quote phrases, sentences, paragraphs or even pages. This is very common with these papers as the reader may need to refer to your citations repeatedly. With astrophysics it is very common to cite several pages of formulas from someone else's work. You are free to quote text from those papers and incorporate them into your paper as long as you give appropriate credit.

Almost forgot. To quote a song from Toh Lehrer
Plagiarize!
Let no one else s work evade your eyes!
Plagiarize, plagiarize, plagiarize!
But be sure to always call it research.

(And if you dare quote that to your instructor, you're dead meat.)

Need help with EPQ

Kron

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The Snark

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