Temperature and development

Audience: Upper-secondary education, Biology and Physics. Suggested time: 40–45 min. Status: technical draft; Biology and Physics teacher review pending. Starting lesson: Brood in cold and warmth (crias-temperatura). Resources: WebGL browser, paper or spreadsheet, and laboratory access. Follow the common preparation.

Objective

Investigate development under thermal conditions and recognize that speed, survival and population size measure different things.

BNCC

Proposed association: EM13CNT202, EM13CNT203, EM13CNT301 and EM13CNT302. See the mapping and official source in the general guide. Teacher review is needed.

Steps and records

1. In 5 min, write a hypothesis about development at 18 °C and 28 °C.
2. Open Brood in cold and warmth. Check A 18/B 28 °C; there are eight initial eggs, identical soil water and a generic thermal profile without diapause.
3. Record day 0, visible brood stages, development/stress panel, brood count, population and food. Observe Show heat.
4. Pause and use Advance without rendering for five days; record the actual destination reached. Repeat equal increments until day 20 if the budget permits.
5. Compare A/B at the same tick/day without changing light, water or feeding. In 10 min, write a conclusion considering development and losses, not only final count. Preserve checkpoints and restore the backup.

Discussion questions

• Does more brood necessarily mean faster development?
• Was soil water changed together with initial temperature?
• What observation would prevent a claim that the warmer scenario was better?

Annotated answer guidance

The model accumulates thermal development and includes stress effects. Counts combine laying, maturation and death; stages and losses are also needed. Initial water is identical, but later dynamics can diverge through evaporation and consumption. Heat does not guarantee survival or growth. If no maturation occurs, the conclusion is limited to that interval, not an optimum.

What the model does not represent

An accelerated, uncalibrated profile without diapause in this pair. Air and soil change together; water is pore saturation, not chamber relative humidity. Do not convert model days into a species’ natural timelines.

Learning evidence

Submit a hypothesis, comparable records with days/units, a data-supported conclusion and one limitation. Use the general guide’s rubric; there is no required outcome.

Teacher review

Pending. No teacher or class was consulted to approve this guide. Record review and adjustments in the appropriate form before treating it as validated.