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This page shows questions in the Fukushima Butterflies public release module at MSDE. Life Science MISA
"Fukushima Butterflies"

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Butterflies Near the Power Plant

The pale grass blue butterfly (Zizeeria maha) has small, blue-colored wings. The distance the butterfly can fly is limited by the size of its wings. The butterfly begins its life cycle as an egg. The egg hatches into a larva, or caterpillar. Next, the pupa forms a chrysalis and eventually the adult emerges as a butterfly. The typical life cycle is about twenty-two days.

Pale grass blue butterflies are found throughout Japan. This includes areas near the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant (NPP). An accident at the nuclear power plant on March 11, 2011, released a large amount of nuclear radiation into the surrounding area. Radiation exposure decreased as the distance from the nuclear plant increased. A group of scientists claimed that the pale grass blue butterflies were a model organism to evaluate the environmental and biological effects of the radiation. Two months after the accident, the scientists captured adult pale grass blue butterflies at different distances from the nuclear power plant. This was the first generation of butterflies exposed to the radiation from the accident.

In a laboratory, the scientists bred the collected adult butterflies to create two generations. The eclosion time is the time it takes the butterfly to go from egg to adult. The eclosion time of each generation was recorded by the scientists. The graph shows the data collected.

The title of the graph is Average Eclosion Time for Radiation-Exposed Butterflies. The x-axis is labeled Distance from the NPP in kilometers. It begins at zero and extends to the right to one hundred sixty in intervals of forty. The y-axis is labeled Eclosion Time in days. It begins at zero after which there is a break and the next number is twenty-two. After twenty-two, the y-axis extends upward to twenty-seven in intervals of one. The graph has eight points as well as a line of best fit. The line of best fit begins at twenty-six at the distance of twenty kilometers and goes gradually down to twenty-three at the distance of one hundred seventy kilometers.

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Abnormalities

The scientists observed the new generations of butterfly for abnormalities in their wings, eyes, and appendages. The graph shows some of the data the scientists collected during their observations.

The title of the graph is Rate of Abnormal Appendages. The x-axis is labeled Distance from the NPP in kilometers. It begins at zero and extends to the right to one hundred eighty in intervals of forty. The y-axis is labeled Abnormality Rate percent. it begins at zero and extends upward to eight in intervals of two. The graph has eight points and a line of best fit.The line of best fit starts at six point nine at a distance of twenty kilometers and goes down gradually to zero point five at a distance of one hundred forty.

A butterfly's forewings are its two front wings. The graph shows the changes in forewing size as the butterflies' exposure to radiation increased. The risk of health effects from exposure to radiation are measured in microsievert units (µSv) in the graph.

The title of the graph is Butterfly Forewing Size. The x-axis is labeled Ground Radiation Exposure in microsieverts per hour. It begins at zero and extends to the right to four point zero in intervals of one point zero. The y-axis is labeled Forewing Size in centimeters. It begins at zero, and there is break after zero. After the break, the first number is one point two. After one point two, the y-axis extends upward to one point five in intervals of zero point one. The graph has ten points and a line of best fit.The line of best fit starts at one point four at zero microsieverts and goes gradually down to one point two two at three point four microsieverts.

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Radiation Impact

In butterflies, the genes that control the development of wings, eyes, and appendages are located on the same chromosome. The scientists performed another experiment to determine the impact of the radiation on the butterflies. The scientists collected a second sample of adult butterflies two months and six months after the nuclear accident. In a laboratory, the scientists grew two new generations of the butterflies from the adult butterflies they had collected.

The data table shows a comparison of the butterflies collected two months and six months after the accident and their offspring.

The title of the table is Abnormalities in Several Generations of Butterflies. The table has three columns and three rows. The first column heading is Generation. The second column heading is Two Months after Nuclear Accident percent. The third column heading is Six Months after Nuclear Accident percent. The first row is Parent population P, thirteen point two, twenty-eight point one. The second row is First generation produced F one, eighteen point three, fifty-one point nine. The third row is Second generation produced F two, thirty-three point five, data not collected.

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Use evidence to support the claim that the nuclear accident at the nuclear power plant caused changes that resulted in the abnormalities seen in the pale grass blue butterfly population for the next several generations.

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