MICDS Animal Behavior Description (draft 10/26/10)
Course Length
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1 trimester
Instructors
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Kate Hanes
Brian Coco
Course Overview
In this course, students learn about the basics of behavior and methods of animal research. They
explore behaviors that are used for: communication, reproduction, parental care, foraging, learning, and
social bonding. They learn about the proximate and ultimate causes of behavior, examine the costs and
benefits of behavior, and put the idea of behavior into an evolutionary context. The course has an
extensive laboratory component, including investigations of live animals as well as video and audio
recordings of behavior. A representative from the St. Louis Zoo Outreach Program will give a
presentation on animal research to the students, and students will be asked to make observations of
animals at the zoo. Students have an opportunity either to conduct an animal behavior experiment or
to write and illustrate a book on animal behavior.
Science Pre-Requisites
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101 Cells and 201 Genetics & Biotechnology (or equivalent)
Math Pre-Requisites
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100 Algebra 1
Summative Assessment Strategies
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Independent Project (choose one)
o Design, implement, and present an experiment
o Write and illustrate book on behavior for middle-schoolers
Formative Assessment Strategies
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Lab exercises
Homework assignments
Unit tests or projects
National Science Standards Addressed (from National Science Education Standards, 1996)
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Science Content Standards
o Unifying Concepts and Processes
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 Evidence, Models, and Explanation
 Change, Constancy, and Measurement
 Evolution and Equilibrium
 Form and Function
Science as Inquiry
 Understanding of Scientific Concepts
 Appreciation of “how we know what we know” in science
 Understanding of Nature of Science
 Skills necessary to become independent inquirers about natural world
 Dispositions to use skills, abilities, and attitudes associated with science
Life Science
 Biological Evolution
 Interdependence of Organisms
 Behavior of Organisms
Science and Technology
 Identify and state a problem
 Design, implement, and evaluate a solution
History and Nature of Science
 Science as a human endeavor
 Nature of scientific knowledge
Science in Personal and Social Perspectives
 Population Growth
 Natural Resources
 Environmental Quality
Perceived Equipment/Material Needs
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Visit from St. Louis Zoo Outreach program
Texts
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Excerpts from scientific literature and popular media
Course Outline
Unit 1 – Evolution
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Labs
o Predator-Prey (various utensils capturing various beans)
o Earthworm Observation
Homework
o Reading & questions on individual vs. group selection
o Website activity & worksheet on evolution of guppy coloration (PBS)
o Worksheet on cost/benefit analysis of behavior
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Projects
o Essay about one pioneer in field of animal behavior (questions, model systems,
accomplishments)
o Prepare a blog or twitter feed on the concept of evolutionary arms race, from the point
of view of 2 specific examples, & explaining costs and benefits
Unit 2 – Animal Research & Basics of Behavior
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Labs
o Sampling Methods (using animal webcams, plotting ethogram)
o Habitat Preference (designing an experiment using Pill Bugs)
Homework
o Reading & questions on ethics of animal experimentation
Projects
o Essay about an innate human behavior (What is the sign stimulus? What is the fixed
action pattern?)
o Prepare a pamphlet on proximate vs. ultimate causes of behavior, using 3 behaviors as
examples
Unit 3 – Social Behaviors
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Labs
o Simulating Dilution, Confusion, & Odd Prey Effects
o Cognitive Learning (learning symbol language using operant conditioning)
o Optimal Foraging
Homework
o Reading & questions about predator selection pressures on guppies (Templeton &
Shriner, Behavioral Ecology article)
o Worksheets on learned behavior, cooperative behavior, cooperative defense & attack,
cooperative food gathering, & social organization
o Exercise on dispersal, habitat selection, territoriality
Projects
o Essay on altruism, using one species as example (define reciprocity, inclusive fitness, kin
selection, coefficient of relatedness)
o Prepare a poster on following symbiotic relationships: Mutualism, Commensalism,
Parasitism, Predation (give 2 specific examples for each)
Unit 4 – Reproductive Behaviors
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Labs
o Courtship & Mating Behaviors
Homework
o Reading & questions alternative mating strategies (Clifton & Robertson, Nature article)
o Chaseaway vs. Runaway Selection Activity
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o Worksheet on breeding behavior
o Website activity & questions on the Evolution of Love (PBS – Is Love in Our DNA?)
o Website activity & questions on mate selection (PBS – The Mating Game)
Projects
o Essay on mate competition & sperm competition (how do they compete? Give 2
examples of each)
o Prepare a powerpoint on the following mating systems: Monogamy, Polygyny,
Polyandry, Leks (give examples of 2 species for each, what are costs and benefits to
males and females)
Unit 5 – Parental Care Behaviors
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Labs
o Primate Parental Care (at STL Zoo)
o Offspring recognition activity
Homework
o Reading & questions about infanticide in seabirds
o Worksheet on parental care
Projects
o Essay on the type of parental care in one species (Why is it evolutionarily beneficial?
Which parent does care? What are offspring recognition cues?)
o Prepare a flow chart/diagram on infanticide (describe 4 hypotheses about its existence,
at what times does it exist, who benefits, who loses)
Unit 6 – Communication Behaviors
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Labs
o Orientation & Navigation
o Cricket Chirps
Homework
o Reading & questions about pre-hatching crocodilian vocalization
o Coloring assignment & questions on primate olfactory, auditory & visual communication
o Worksheet on animal communication
o Honeybee dance activity – design dance to hypothetical flower
Projects
o Prepare a quiz & key on one of the following forms of communication: visual, tactile,
auditory (examples of 3 species that use it, costs and benefits, evolutionary purpose)