[Calpernia]

ping

[Calpernia]

Woo weee. Let me try that sentence again:

I just surfed a few university sites too and it seems they withhold food and water for about a day or two to encourage the mouse to learn the maze.


Too many children helping me post :P

[Michael Goldsberry]

Try bread crumbs, as it were, leading it to the prize a few times. Each time, increase the distance between the hints until finally only the prize remains.

I'd be interested to hear if this works.

[GSlob]

Just put a small morsel of cheese at the maze end, and see what happens.

[bert]

In the best interest of teaching real science, make the maze and do the experiment. Let your kid learn for themselves what the mouse will or will not do.

The fact the mouse doesn't do anything maens something and is a valid result. putting bait along the way and at the end might change his motivation and teach him the maze.

To start the experiment with preconceived results invalidates the real science. Dealing with unknown and uncertainty is what it is all about.

[Tired of Taxes]

Ping!

Can anyone offer advice to Calpernia on this science project?

[SunkenCiv]

[dread78645]

My 10y.o. has a science project due by April 4th. She would like to try to do a Mouse Maze with her gerbil and Egyptian Spiny Mouse to see who can learn it.

I've no idea how much time a rodent needs to learn a maze. I just surfed a few university sites too and it seems they without food and water for about a day or too to encourage the mouse to learn the maze.

Rats can learn a Skinner box in a week and a half of training, 2 or three trial runs each day. I can't imagine it'd take mice or gerbils much longer.
But there's not enough time to do this project properly by Apr. 4th.

Go to your backup plan.