Category: Ecology
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What Does a Bird’s Beak Tell You About Its Diet?
In this activity, students examine images of birds and make inferences about the bird’s diet and lifestyle based on the shape of their beaks and legs. Birds are very diverse in their habits, spear-shaped beaks are used for fishing, short stout beaks are used for cracking seeds, and the curved beaks of raptors are used…
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What Can Bird Beaks Tell You About Their Lifestyle?
Worksheet showing bird images where students determine their lifestyle based on the shape of their beaks and feet.
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Case Study – Are Invading Bullfrogs Harmful?
Students follow a story about an ecologist and a student who are studying the population size of bullfrogs in California. These amphibians are considered an invasive species in that area and have been causing the decline of native species. Students learn concepts related to community interactions and learn one species can cause the decline…
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Endangered Species Project
Students create a publication (website, infographic) to educate their classmates about a specific animal that is on the endangered species list.
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Investigation: Owl Pellets
Students open owl pellets to reveal the skeletons and fur of the owl’s last meal, and then reconstruct the skeletons using an bone chart.
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Population Biology with Paramecium
Activity illustrates the competitive exclusion principle by showing students how each population behaves when grown alone or when mixed together.
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Case Study – Investigation of Animal Behavior
The goal is for students to develop a basic understanding about how animal models are used to study behavior and how behavior can be explained from an evolutionary perspective.