One possible reason that there are not any really large insects currently living on Earth is that
A. gas exchange across their moist skin surfaces cannot support the metabolic needs of a large body.
B. they do not have as many papulae as echinoderms.
C. their gills do not have as many lamellae as fish gills.
D. the bulk flow of air through their tracheal tubes would be more difficult the larger the body and longer the tracheal tubes.
E. their lungs never evolved to be as highly branched as a mammal's.
Clarify Question
What is the key concept addressed by the question?
What type of thinking is required?
Gather Content
What do you already know about respiration in insects? What other information is related to the question?
Choose Answer
Given what you now know, what information is most likely to produce the correct answer?
Reflect on Process
Did your problem-solving process lead you to the correct answer? If not, where did the process break down or lead you astray? How can you revise your approach to produce a more desirable result?
D. the bulk flow of air through their tracheal tubes would be more difficult the larger the body and longer the tracheal tubes.
Clarify Question
What is the key concept addressed by the question?
· This question is asking about the factors that limit insect body size.
What type of thinking is required?
· Apply level:
o You are being asked to take what you already know and use, or apply, it to understand insect body size limitations.
Gather Content
What do you already know about respiration in insects? What other information is related to the question?
· Insects do not possess lungs.
· Air moves through the body of an insect passively through tracheal tubes.
Choose Answer
Given what you now know, what information is most likely to produce the correct answer?
· Insects do not have papulae, or lungs, or gills, or exchange of gases through the skin.
· As an insect increases in size, the air has to travel a greater distance to reach the tissues.
· Since there is no active process that drives air to the tissues, air travels less efficiently as distance increases.
· One size reaches a critical point, air cannot be transported efficiently to the tissues. This would limit the growth of an insect.
Reflect on Process
Did your problem-solving process lead you to the correct answer? If not, where did the process break down or lead you astray? How can you revise your approach to produce a more desirable result?
· Apply level:
o Answering this question correctly depended on your ability to use insect respiration in a new situation. If you got an incorrect answer, did you remember that insect respiration does not involve gills or lungs, or that movement of air is passive? Did you have trouble extending insect respiration to determine the correct answer?
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