Hamsters

By Mirella Diana Anayellli Class 610

Title: The effect of amount of light on

a hamsters eyesight

Question: what is the effect of a hamster eyesight in a maze with out light and

with light?

Hypothesis: We think the hamster will take longer time

to get out of the maze if there's no light because the hamster is

a nocturnal creatureand the they have poor

eyesight in the light.

Procedure

1. Build a maze out of cardboard2. when you finish with step number 0ne

you go and buy a hamster3. put your hamster on the starting line4. turn off all lights and set your timer

going5.do the same thing but this time with all

lights on

Background informationThe breed of the hamster is the Golden hamsters (A.K.A the Teddy

Bear hamsters). The size of adult animals ranges from 5 to 7 in (13 to 18 cm) long, with a lifespan of two to three years. In captivity, the golden hamster is most active at night, but in the wild, it is a crepuscular animal. Wild hamsters sleep during the day in the deepest part of their burrows to avoid predators and wake up after sunset, being active on the ground for a few hours in the early and late parts of the night. Animals such as the hamster are nocturnal creatures because the habit in which they are found is to hot in the day and they are risk from predators so they came out as it starts to cool down (at night) Hamsters are nocturnal creatures that may on occasion bite if bothered while sleeping remember that since hamsters are nocturnal they make noise at night! Being nocturnal, this can be a bit hard to test during the day but during the day a hamster should respond (be careful at first instinct of a hamster might be to nip if woken from a deep sleep) Golden hamsters originate from Syria and were found in 1839 by British zoologist George Robert Waterhouse. Their natural condition is a dry, hot desert climate. An adult hamster weighs roughly 90 - 150 gm. They are small, about 3-5 inches (mouse like) and can fit in the palm of your hand.

Results The evidence for this is that the second run through the maze was almost always longer then the first. So again hamsters do learn but it

would appear they are also curious. The conclusions using another stimulus were inconclusive. It was thought that mango, as a highly

scented food, would speed the hamster through the maze as he was guided by his sense of smell. There was no clear result from the

timing of the trips though the maze. This could have been due to the possibility that scent has no impact on the hamster or it may be that

hamsters simply may not be fond of mango

ConclusionIn conclusion this show the way the hamster find their

way out their maze is that the hamster’s time through the maze, overall, got shorter and shorter. While only hamster food was used at the end of the

maze, the hamster’s time through the maze became significantly faster with each run through

the maze. The fact that the time became faster would indicate that the hamster learned the path through the maze to the food. It was also noted that hamsters seem to have a natural sense of

curiosity as was indicated by longer times for each second trip through the maze. This may possibly be

due to the fact that the hamster wants to see if there is anything else in the maze..

\\\\ literature sited:

• Ardley, Neil, The science book of light,

Gulliver books 1991.

• http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20060719110218AAuo7vp

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teddy_Bear_Hamster

• http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/pets/hamster.htm