Mrs. Goldsmith’s Class Experiment Page Sea Star Predation on Mussels

A sea star enjoying a mussel meal

Research Question: We examined sea star predation on mussels. We asked (1) Do sea stars eat mussels? (2) Do large sea stars eat more and/or larger mussels than small sea stars?, and (3) Do large mussels escape predation because they are to big for sea stars to eat?

Students examine and measure mussels

Busy taking measurements

Results: We found that sea stars eat mussels. No mussels died in the aquarium without sea stars. We also found that large sea stars ate more mussels than small sea stars, but that both small and large sea stars were able to eat large mussels.

Experimental results: table and charts