Tag: behavior
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Can Plants Learn?
An experiment to determine if plants could learn by association Identify key features, such as variables, controls. Based on a real experiment in Nature.com.
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Investigation: Earthworm
This earthworm lab is a revised version of the observation lab that I have used for years. I wanted to make the lab more open-ended and include terminology within the lab instead of expecting them to know it from their notes or textbooks. Taxonomy chapters on annelids and other invertebrates are being phased out, and…
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Data Analysis: Funky Juncos
View a short video about how a group of birds split from the main population and evolved in relative isolation near a college campus. The film is is 88 minutes long and all of its parts can be viewed at the Juncoproject.com, though for this activity, only one 16 minute chapter is viewed. The…
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Investigation – Animal Behavior with Isopods
An isopod is a crustacean with a segmented body and seven pairs of legs. They are commonly known as pill bugs, roly-polys, or woodlice. Isopods are found in a variety of habitats, including soil, under rocks, and in decaying wood. They are detritivores, meaning they eat dead and decaying matter. Isopods are an important part…
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Investigation: Habitat Selection in Flour Beetles
This activity was modified from an Advanced Placement Investigation for use with freshman classes. The instructions are clear and require students to examine data and create a graph. Then students collect their own data using Choice Chambers and can choose which variables they would like to test: wet vs dry, water vs vinegar, light…
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How to Put Together Your Classroom Rules
My very first day of school over twenty years ago, I received some very bad advice about classroom rules. For some reason, my education instructors at the time were very into student centered rule making. The first day, they said, should be spent by creating rules with the class so that the students are…
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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.