State Standard: (653) Matter, Energy, and Organization in Living Systems

Animal Behavior Lab

Time: 50 minutes
Grade Level: 9-12
Objectives:

·Students will be able to design and carry out an experiment to study insect response (behavior) to stimuli.
·Students will be able to design a data table that is appropriate for their experimental design. (Analysis)
·Students will be able to interpret and report (orally) the results of their experiment to the class. (Synthesis and Evaluation)
·Students will be able to evaluate the outcome of their experiment based on their hypothesis and prediction. (Evaluation)
·Students will be able to comprehend that insect behavior is influenced by external stimuli and predict how insects in natural environments react to stimuli. (Comprehension and Synthesis)

Idaho Achievement Standards

·648.02.a. "Know that observations and data are evidence on which to base scientific explanations."

·649.01.a. "Identify questions and concepts that guide scientific investigations."

·"Employ scientific inquiry and develop critical thinking skills."

·653.02 "Know that multi-cellular animals have nervous systems that generate behavior."

·"Know that organisms have behavioral responses to …internal and external stimuli…"

·"Know that behaviors often have an adaptive logic when viewed in terms of natural selection."

Background Subject Matter Content
Behavior is an organism's response to stimuli
Stimuli can be internal or external:

External - light, gravity, temperature, odor, moisture, etc.
Internal - thirst, hormones, etc.

Innate behavior - response to stimuli that is performed spontaneously the first time the stimulus is encountered (startle response, sucking, crying, etc.)

Influenced by genes
Reflex - startle reaction, moving away from hot object
Taxes - movement towards or away from a stimulus

Learned behavior - behavior that develops as a result of experience

Innate behaviors can be modified by learned behavior

Some behavior can be measured by simple observations

Key Point
An organism's behavior is closely related to the environment in which it lives.

The Lesson

Introduction (10 minutes)

Engage - burst balloon & toilet paper trail
Students were unknowing participants in animal behavior experiment

Ethology - study of an organism's behaviors in an ecosystem
Can learn much about an organism by observing behavior in a natural or lab setting

Lab will involve looking at insect behavior

Background/Content

Behavior is a response to stimuli
Stimuli - external or internal and examples
Innate behavior is (see above)
Learned behavior is (see above)

Activity - (25-30 min.)

Repeat - lab will involve looking at insect behavior in a lab setting

Assign students to groups

Hand out experiment worksheet

Each group will be assigned an insect to study
Each group will design an experiment that can be completed within 15 minutes (5 min)
Give an example of a simple experiment showing a hypothesis, experimental design, prediction, and data table.
Show examples of poorly designed hypotheses and experiments.
Each group will develop a data collection sheet (5 min.)
Each group will be responsible for preparing a brief oral and visual (overhead projector) report of their results to the rest of the class (5 min.)
Worksheet and overhead transparency will be turned in at the end of the class period

Monitor group activity - formative assessment of hypothesis and experimental design

Conclusion - (10 min.)

Student reports on overhead (formative/summative assessment)

Name insect group and state group's hypothesis
Explain group's experimental design
Ask other groups to predict what will happen based on experimental design
State group's prediction
Show visual of results on overhead projector

Collect group worksheets and transparencies

Briefly summarize how using a simple experimental design and observation has led to increased understanding of how stimuli influences behavior and how an organism's behavior is directly influenced by the environment in which it lives.

Introduce take-home evaluation

Design an investigation in a natural setting based on what was learned
about the three insects in this lab and the information accompanying the evaluation

Materials

Insects (mealworms, box elder bugs, crickets, ants, etc.)
Petri dishes
Plastic spoons
Paper cups/plates for food
Sugar water
Various stimuli (oat bran, sawdust or pine shavings, potato, apple, papertowel (for dampening),
sand, light source (flashlight), ice pack, heat pack, black paper for obstructing light).
Observation trays - two cell and five cell (or any type of large dish where separate areas can be distinguished).

Evaluation (take home)

Given what you have learned about insect behavior in this lab and using background information provided on the lab insect of your choice, form a hypothesis related to the behavior of that insect and design an experiment to test your hypothesis. The site of your experiment needs to be a natural setting rather than a laboratory setting.

INSECT BEHAVIOR INVESTIGATION

Names of people in your group:
_______________________________ _________________________________
_______________________________ _________________________________

Insect being observed: ________________________________________________________

Question we will investigate: ___________________________________________________

Predict the outcome of your experiment ____________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

Describe your investigative design in enough detail that someone else could replicate it. (Remember to replicate the experiment yourself.)
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

What data will you collect and what method will you use to collect it?
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

What conclusions did you draw from your data?
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________

Compare your conclusion(s) to your prediction(s)?
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________

TAKE-HOME EVALUATION                              Student ______________________

Given what you have learned about insect behavior in this lab and using background
information provided on the lab insect of your choice, form a hypothesis related to the
behavior of that insect and design an experiment to test your hypothesis.
The site of your experiment needs to be a natural setting rather than a laboratory setting.

Insect of Choice
__________________________________________________________________________

Question(s) You Would Like to Answer
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

Hypothesis ________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________

Methods and Materials
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________

Grading Rubric

Maximum Points Possible - 16

Student Grade -  /16