THE

ETHOGRAM and
ANIMAL BEHAVIOR RESEARCH

Supported by a Science Education

Partnership Award from the National
Center for Research Resources,
National Institutes of Health

science curriculum for grades 5-8

Janet Crews
Stan Braude
Carol Stephenson
Terrilyn Clardy
 THE

ETHOGRAM and
ANIMAL BEHAVIOR RESEARCH

Supported by a Science Education

Partnership Award from the National
Center for Research Resources,
National Institutes of Health

science curriculum for grades 5-8

Janet Crews
Stan Braude
Carol Stephenson
Terrilyn Clardy
 Authors: Janet Crews, Wydown Middle School, Clayton School District
Stan Braude, Department of Biology, Washington University
Carol Stephenson, Saint Louis Zoo
Terrilyn Clardy, Sumner High School, St. Louis Public Schools

Animal behavior films produced by Rosie Koch, BAO Productions

© Copyright 2002 Washington University in St. Louis. Teachers may copy materials as needed for
classroom use.

This curriculum was developed by A Partnership Linking Formal and Informal Education, funded
by Science Education Partnership Award R25 RR 15603 from the National Center for Research
Resources, National Institutes of Health.
Principal Investigator: Ralph S. Quatrano, Professor of Biology, Washington University
Project Director: Victoria L. May, Director of Science Outreach, Washington University
Evaluator: Jennifer L. Heim, St. Louis Science Center

Washington University Science Outreach

One Brookings Drive, Campus Box 1137, St. Louis, MO 63130
(314) 935-6846, [Link]

2
CONTENTS

SECTION 1 Introduction and Overview of the Curriculum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

SECTION 2 The Ethogram: an Introduction to the Study of Animal Behavior . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

SECTION 3 Introduction to Scientific Inquiry and Sampling Methods and Data Analysis . . . 25

SECTION 4 Animal Behavior Research Projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

SECTION 5 Appendices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

Sample of a Student Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

Animal Behavior Magazine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

3
SECTION 1

INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW OF THE

ANIMAL BEHAVIOR CURRICULUM

5
1.1 INTRODUCTION

The study of animal behavior is important for basic Two visits are ideal for this unit. The preliminary zoo trip,
understanding of the world around us, and has practical if taken, gives students an opportunity to make
applications for conservation, agriculture, and medicine. The observations that can help guide development of their
study of animal behavior in the classroom also provides scientific research proposals.
opportunities for teaching students about the process of
doing science, as well as developing basic skills of In the second, third (or only) visit to the zoo, students will
observation, description, and quantification. It helps teachers take data that will help them test a hypothesis that follows
address components of all four of the Missouri Show Me from a scientific question about their chosen study species
performance standards and includes content standards from at the zoo. Depending on time available, the class may
science, social studies and communication arts. spend part of the day visiting the sites of each study.
Students can tell their classmates about their chosen
In this unit, students, will create one of the basic descriptive study animal.
tools of animal behavior, the ethogram. A complete
ethogram is a dictionary of all of the behaviors that a It is the intent of this curriculum that teachers will use
particular species performs. Biologists publish ethograms of the zoo and other local resources, not just for entertainment
their study species so that they can communicate with each field trips, but for powerful field classes. The power of a
other about the behaviors they investigate. Generating their focused learning experience, coupled with intense pre- and
own ethograms will give students multiple opportunities to post-field work in the classroom, is what increases student
hone their skills of observation, description and achievement. It is important for the teacher to wisely
quantification. Students will make preliminary ethograms in decide how this curriculum can best support existing
the classroom and at home. They will then generate an district curriculum. Does it help you teach scientific
ethogram of one exotic species at the zoo by viewing a method? Taxonomy? Explore native species? Or is it best
video of that animal. They will then use their ethograms in suited for cross-curricular projects? Can it help you provide
completing a research project at the zoo. a rationale for a service learning project? The choice is up
to the teacher.
This unit uses the attraction of studying exotic species at the
zoo to teach students about the process of doing scientific Finally, it is also up to the teacher to select the best time of
research. They will explore one zoo species in depth and the year to implement this curriculum. Testers suggest the
then write up a research proposal. spring, as you have had time to work with your students,
and they have matured in their skills. It is also more
While this unit is designed to utilize the resources of the zoo, appropriate weather for outdoor field classes.
it can be completed by using a local park, class study area on
campus, or even using a class pet. Financial resources should Whatever your situation, this curriculum is yours to adapt
not keep a teacher from using this curriculum. and incorporate to help you better teach and engage your
students. The use of ethograms truly lets the students (and
Teachers have the option of planning one, two, or three zoo teacher) feel like real scientists.
visits. See graph Zoo visit options for Section 4, page 11.

7
1.2 CURRICULUM OVERVIEW

SECTION 2 SECTION 3
THE ETHOGRAM: AN INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION TO SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY,
TO THE STUDY OF ANIMAL BEHAVIOR. . . . 13 SAMPLING, AND DATA ANALYSIS . . . . . . . . . . 25

2.1 What is Behavior? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 3.1 Which Sampling Method Works Best? . . . 26

The purpose of this activity is to capture the interest Students will observe animals using two different
of the students and excite them about observing and sampling methods with prepared data sheets. This
studying animal behavior. Primate species were introduces them to the idea that scientists use
selected because of the human similarities. They different tools for different tasks. It also encourages
were videotaped in the wild to give the students a them to observe different aspects of behavior.
sense of natural behaviors. This lesson also
introduces them to asking questions, with behavior as 3.2 Sample Data Analysis: Jim’s Crickets
the focus. and Marshall’s Crows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

2.2 Classroom Introduction to Creating Students participate in a sample analysis exercise to

an Ethogram . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 discuss factors of analysis. They sort through useful
and irrelevant data. They look for patterns that help
An ethogram is like a dictionary of the behaviors of a them decide whether their data supports the
particular species. Students have an opportunity to hypothesis in question.
interact with actual animals and observe behavior first
hand. They also will create class ethograms, learn 3.3 How Do We Choose A Scientific
about the different kinds of ethograms, and discover Question to Investigate? Part I . . . . . . . . . . 45
ways to define behavior.
Students evaluate sample questions about behaviors.
2.3 Development of Individual Ethograms They must determine if the questions are scientifically
at Home. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 answerable, and what methods would be required
for testing the hypotheses that follow from these
Students are now given the opportunity to use the questions. The lesson reviews writing a testable
skills developed in class to create ethograms on research question, and using a scientific method.
animals that they observe outside of class.

8
Zoo visit options for Section 4
Teachers may choose to make one, two or three visits.
SECTION 4
ANIMAL BEHAVIOR RESEARCH PROJECTS . . . 51

4.2 Choosing a study 4.1 Introduction: Considerations for Field Classes

species for research at the Zoo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
on animal behavior
at the zoo
OPTIONAL ZOO VISIT 4.2 Choosing a Study Species for Research
(first visit of two or three)
4.3 Organism exploration
on Animal Behavior at the Zoo . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
at the zoo

4.4 Ethogram In this lesson, students will choose a zoo animal for their
Development of the research project by viewing a video.
Zoo Study Subject

4.3 Organism Exploration at the Zoo

OPTIONAL ZOO VISIT (Optional first visit of two or three) . . . . . . . . . 57
(second visit of three)
4.5 Field Study Research:
Ethogram Students go to the zoo to observe potential species for a
Supplementation behavioral study. For classes that can visit the zoo twice
4.6 Library Exploration
Note: Students may make (this is preferable), this visit is for preliminary exploration
this visit on their own time. and practice data gathering.

4.4 Ethogram Development of the Zoo

4.7 How do we choose Study Subject . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
a Scientific Question?

Students will generate an ethogram of their chosen

study species by viewing a moderate length film of the
4.8 Research Proposal species in the zoo. This will prepare them to develop a
research question and hypothesis that they can test
during a zoo visit.
ZOO VISIT
(only or last visit)
4.9 Field Study
Research: Collecting
Behavioral Data

9
4.5 Field Study Research: Ethogram 4.8 Research Proposal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Supplementation (Optional second visit
of three) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 Too often student research projects fail because of
lack of preparation and feedback before the data
Students may go to the zoo to observe their chosen collection begins. In this lesson, students will develop
study species and supplement their ethogram on the or refine a scientific question about their animal.
species. Students may do this visit on their own, Students will generate a hypothesis to answer the
after school or on weekends. This visit is for continued question and choose a sampling method to help
exploration, practice data gathering, and familiarization them test the hypothesis. Then they will write a
with the study species at the zoo. research proposal that outlines the scientific
framework for their research project.
4.6 Library Exploration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
4.9 Field Study Research: Collecting
After completion of the ethogram, students will be Behavioral Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
instructed to further explore their chosen species in
the library and on the web. This exercise will further Students will visit the zoo to observe their selected
familiarize them with their study species and may lead species and collect the data to attempt to answer their
them to interesting research questions. research question.

4.7 How Do We Choose A Scientific Question 4.10 Analysis of Results and Write-up of
to Investigate? Part II . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66 Research Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

Students will apply the tools of developing scientific Students will synthesize the skills and information
questions, hypotheses and tests to their own study they learned in this unit by writing up a report of their
species at the zoo. zoo research project.

4.11 Reflection/Evaluation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

Students have the opportunity to reflect over their

conclusions and what they have learned during this
project. This could also include students evaluating
their peers’ presentations.

4.12 Further Investigations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

Students or teachers may choose to continue with this

topic in a variety of extension activities.

The following transparency master may be useful in giving

your students an overview of the unit.

10
T H E E T H O G R A M A N D A N I M A L B E H AV I O R

What is animal behavior? How do we conduct an independent research project

What can we observe? at the zoo?
Choosing an animal species
How do we study it scientifically?
Developing an ethogram of your chosen species

What is an ethogram? Learning about your chosen species in the library

Practice in developing an ethogram in class
Asking your scientific question, proposing a
Practice in developing an ethogram at home hypothesis to answer the question, making
predictions to test the hypothesis

What other scientific tools do we need to conduct Writing a scientific research proposal
behavior research?
Since we can’t observe everything, how do we take Collecting your behavioral proposal
a sample of observations that gives a fair
representation of what the animals are doing?
Presenting the results of your research.
What is the difference between a scientific question,
a hypothesis, and a prediction?

How do we use data to test a hypothesis?

How do we choose a scientific question for

an independent project?

11
1.3 S TA N D A R D L I N K S

Missouri Show Me Standards

Performance Standards
1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.5, 1.8, 2.2,
2.3, 2.7, 3.3, 3.5, 4.6

Knowledge Standards
SC 3, 7; SS 7, CA 4, 6

Framework Standards
Science 5-8; I.A.1-4, I.B.1-2,
VII.A.3, VII.C.1-2 1.4 T I M E E X P E C TAT I O N S

Total time, if unit is done in its entirety, is approximately

19 class periods. It is possible to use many lessons in a
stand-alone capacity.

2.1 One period

2.2 Two periods
2.3 Week-long homework assignment
3.1 One period
3.2 Two periods
3.3 Two periods
4.2 One period
4.3 One period
4.4 Week-long homework assignment
4.5 Optional
4.6 Two-three periods
4.7 Two periods
4.8 Three periods plus week-long homework
4.9 Field trip
4.10 Week-long homework
4.11 One period

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SECTION 2

THE ETHOGRAM
AN INTRODUCTION TO THE
STUDY OF ANIMAL BEHAVIOR

SECTION OVERVIEW

These three lessons are designed to give

students an introduction to creation of an
ethogram and the study of animal behavior.
The lessons use inquiry methods to help
students discover the need for ethograms
and other scientific research tools. The
"Animal Whys” magazine explains why
scientists study animal behavior, and
activities introduce the basic methods
for study.

13
2.1 W H AT I S B E H AV I O R ?

Lesson Overview Timeline

The purpose of this activity is to capture the interest of 1 class period

the students and excite them about observing and
studying animal behavior. Primate species were Group size
selected because of their human similarities. They
were videotaped in the wild to give the students a Whole class observation and teacher led discussion
sense of natural behaviors. This lesson also introduces
students to asking questions, with behavior as the focus. Materials

Student Objectives — TV with DVD player, or computer with CD-ROM or

DVD and overhead projector
After completing this activity, students will be able to: — “The Wild Ones: Vervet Monkeys and Olive
Baboons” — CD-Rom or DVD video, included with
1 compare the behavior of two primate species from curriculum
observational data they collect. — Dry erase or chalk board
— Copies of Animal Behavior Self-Assessment for
2 generate questions about a species, its behavior, each student, or an overhead transparency
and observations of its behavior based on data
they collect.

14
2.1 W H AT I S B E H AV I O R ?

Procedure 6 Tell the students they will look at a second species.

Ask them to focus on similarities and differences.
1 Give out the Animal Behavior Self Assessment. Ask Show the second primate video, the vervet baboons.
the students to answer the questions as best they can.
This will allow you to see what they already know, and 7 Again, collect class data.
for the students to think about the question before you
ask them. 8 Ask the students if they see any categories of
behavior arising (e.g. feeding, play, conflict, sleeping,
2 Ask the students, What is behavior? Ask them to locomotion). List possibilities.
generate examples of behavior they have observed. List
on board or chart. 9 Ask the students if they observed similar behaviors in
both species. List those. Similarities and differences
3 Tell them they will observe two species of primates: can be organized in a Venn diagram.
olive baboons and vervet monkeys. Ask them to write
down all behaviors they observe in the video. You can 10 Ask “Why are the monkeys doing the things they are
offer the challenge: Who can find the greatest number doing?” “Do we know why?”
of different behaviors?
11 Ask what the students want to know about behavior.
4 After 10 minutes (or shorter intervals), pause the Create a master list of questions about the species,
video and ask students to share observations. Create about behavior, about observing behavior based on
a class list. Write down questions they have, as well as their experiences in this activity.
problems they are having. This allows you to address
concerns, as well as model appropriate answers for 12 Now ask, How would we go about answering any of
students. Refrain from telling them they are right or these questions using the tools of science? Facilitate
wrong about their behavioral names or interpretations. a group discussion. Your students may or may not be
Simply facilitate the discussion. able to infer a way to measure behavior.

5 Continue with the video. Stop at the end of the baboon

section. Discuss behaviors, questions, observational
problems.

15
2.1 W H AT I S B E H AV I O R ?

Teacher Tips • Discuss how real scientists must develop the skill of
patience, as observation can become tedious work!
• There is no sound on the video to keep the students
focused on the behavior. Soundtracks often influence • Keep a class question list to refer to during the unit.
how we interpret behavior. (Think movie music!) Show
some samples from other videos with and without the • For special needs children, you may print a list of
sound to see how it influences our interpretation. behaviors and have students check off those that
they see.
• The teacher should stop and model the thinking
process after the first 2-3 minutes of the video the first • Some teachers have preferred to use Penguin
time around. Model what behaviors you notice and Odyssey or films from the Trials of Life series for this
how you would record them. introductory exercise. While the diversity of species
may be more attractive to students, the dialogue can
• Remember to honor ALL answers AS GIVEN, no be very distracting and can stifle independent
matter how wrong they are. Let the students find out thinking. Therefore, be sure to turn off the sound if
they are wrong as the unit develops. you use a commercially available film.

• If you are working with younger students, stop more • You may also ask the students to work in small groups
often — every 2-3 minutes and let them record. of 3-4 for this lesson.

• To increase participation, you may want to stop after

2-3 minutes and let students collaborate on a group
list of behaviors. Continue to repeat this process.

16
 ACTIVITY 2.1 name

ANIMAL BEHAVIOR SELF-ASSESSMENT

Scientists study behaviors of animals in order to better understand how our world works. In this
project, you will be asked to study the behavior of a number of different animals.

Describe how you would gather information on an animal’s behavior, and how you would record that
information so that it will be useful in answering scientific questions.

17
2.2 C L A S S R O O M I N T R O D U C T I O N T O C R E AT I N G
AN ETHOGRAM

Pre-Class Preparation Timeline

Assign for homework or read together: “What is Animal 1-2 class periods
Behavior” and “Why do Scientists Study Animal
Behavior?” in the Animal Whys magazine. Materials

Overview — At least two types of common classroom/school

yard animals: crickets, isopods, fish, worms,
Students have an opportunity to interact with actual hissing cockroaches, mice, etc. (1-2 organisms
animals and observe behavior first hand. They also will for every 2-4 students)
create class ethograms, learn about the different kinds — Hand lenses
of ethograms, and discover ways to define behavior. — Containers for organisms (petri dishes, bug boxes,
margarine tubs, paper box lids, deep trays,
Student Objectives aquaria)
— Animal Whys magazine for each student
After completing this activity, students will be able to:
Procedure
1 correctly develop an ethogram from observational
data. 1 Ask the students, “What is behavior?” Ask them to
2 explain the ways in which the ethogram is a basic generate examples of behavior they have observed.
tool of animal behavior studies. List on board or chart.
3 describe and categorize behaviors they observe.
2 Read and discuss articles “What is Animal Behavior”
Key Terms and “Why do Scientists Study Animal Behavior?” in
the Animal Whys magazine.
ethogram – a list of behaviors performed by an animal
species, along with precise definitions and detailed 3 Distribute animal cages or aquaria, and ask students
descriptions of each behavior. to log behaviors of the animals for 10 minutes.
data – information collected during an observable
event 4 Stop the observation; ask students to switch animals
anthropomorphism – attributing human characteristics with a group that has a different organism. Ask
to a non-human object or organism. them to log behaviors of the second organism while
focusing on similarities and differences between the
Group Size organisms.

Small groups and then full class 5 Again, collect class data.

18
2.2 C L A S S R O O M I N T R O D U C T I O N T O C R E AT I N G A N E T H O G R A M

6 Ask the students if they see any categories of behavior 16 Ask the students to group the behaviors into categories.
arising (e.g. feeding, play, conflict, sleeping, locomotion). Ask them to define the category names they select.
List possibilities. Do any behaviors need to be combined or renamed?

7 Ask the students if they observed similar behaviors in 17 Share this data.
both species. List those.
18 Help the students to turn these categories into a tallying
8 Ask “Why are the animals doing the things they sheet. Introduce the word ethogram. Refer to “What is
are doing?” an Ethogram” and “Categories of Animal Behavior” in
the Animal Whys magazine.
9 Introduce the word anthropomorphism. Discuss the
perils of inferring emotions, preferences, etc. (Can you 19 Discuss the importance of defining the behaviors.
really tell that this is why they are doing this? Is Others must be able to specifically recognize what
that something you can measure?) Compare this to behaviors you are talking about (this is similar to being
unidentified variables in an experiment. able to understand the procedures in a reliable
experiment). In their groups or as a class, ask students
10 Ask the students “What do you want to know about to write definitions for each category and each distinct
these animals?” Create a master list of questions about behavior.
the species, about behavior, about observing behavior
based on their experiences in this activity. 20 Ask the students to explain how ethograms are useful
to scientists.
11 Now ask, “How would we go about answering any of
these questions using the tools of science?” Facilitate a 21 Once finished, give the students 10 minutes to pool
group discussion. Your students may or may not be their information (tally the number of times each
able to infer a way to measure behavior. List questions behavior is observed) and add this information to their
or ask students to do so. ethograms.

Suggested Stopping Point — Day 2 Start 22 Have students test the validity of their ethograms.
Have them exchange and try using the descriptions in
12 Allow students to collect cages or aquaria of one each other’s ethograms and see if they recognize the
species they observed the day before. specific behaviors.

13 Ask students to revisit the behavior logs from the 23 Share and discuss findings/problems. Ask them if this
previous day. Ask them if they observed the behavior or is enough data to draw solid conclusions. Explain that
inferred what they thought was happening. Remind the ethograms are the basic tool of animal behavior.
students about anthropomorphism.
Homework: Read the Behavioral Research at the
14 Give the students time to adjust/change their behavior Saint Louis Zoo section in Animal Whys. What
labels based on this information. question did the zoo researchers have to answer
in each study? This leads to the next section.
15 Continue collecting behaviors, discussing and adding
to everyone’s list.
19
2.2 C L A S S R O O M I N T R O D U C T I O N T O C R E AT I N G A N E T H O G R A M

Teacher Tips Worms • Cheap and easy to buy

Which animals work best? Well, that is up to • Have to stay moist

you, but here is a list of pros and cons for • Smaller range of behaviors
each animal…
Hissing • Easy to observe (large)
Crickets • Cheap and easy to buy Cockroaches • Larger range of behaviors
• Perform a variety of behaviors • Easy to tell male from female
(mating, fighting, laying eggs, singing)
• Release when finished with them • Harder to find/buy
• Sometimes less active
• Hard to tell apart
• Students less motivated to like them Rodents • Often in classroom
• Furry and familiar
Isopods • Easy to find — free • Easy to tell apart
(roly poly) • Students usually less “creeped out” • Wide range of easily identifiable behaviors
• Easy to mark them
• Mice and gerbils are social, but hamsters
• You have to go find them yourself are solitary
• Smaller range of behaviors • Males and females often need to be
separated
Fish • Cheap and easy to buy • All are more active at night
• No handling necessary • Regular cleaning is required
• Usually easy to tell apart • More care is required
• Often found in classrooms
** Select a species that you have or will study anyway, or
• Set up and maintenance required that you have access to in your classroom or school.
• Harder to set up individual stations Just consider the pros/cons of each species.

20
2.3 DEVELOPMENT OF INDIVIDUAL
E T H O G R A M S AT H O M E

Overview

Students are now given the opportunity to use the Procedure

skills developed in class to independently create
ethograms on animals that they observe outside of 1 Ask students what study species they can observe
class. outside of the classroom. You may require them to
sign up for their study species to promote thinking
Student Objectives about the project ahead of time. Have them read
pages 5 and 6 in the Animal Whys magazine.
After completing this activity, students will be able to
observe, describe and categorize behaviors of animals 2 Hand out the Homework Assignment: Ethogram
they choose and use this information to independently Development.
develop an ethogram.
3 Discuss pages 5-6 in Animal Whys. The sample
Timeline ethograms are models and can help extend students’
thinking. Let students know the Dog Ethogram in the
Homework can be done over a weekend or over a one magazine is a very basic version. Ethograms often
week period. Students can work on section 3 materials have much more detail.
in class while working on this assignment at home.
4 Students will hand in their work after one weekend or
Materials one week.

— Student notebooks, binoculars, watches 5 After the assignment is turned in, you may give
— Ethogram Development worksheet feedback on descriptive definitions and ask students
— Optional – Sample Flow Chart to elaborate on their work.

6 Discuss ways of quantifying different behaviors.

7 Discuss questions that students now have about their

study species after observing them.

21
2.3 D E V E L O P M E N T O F I N D I V I D U A L E T H O G R A M S AT H O M E

Teacher Tips

• You may want to break this assignment down into multiple days. (i.e., assign 1-3 first, come back
and discuss — then assign 4-5, etc.) Use your students as a guide for this decision.

• You may want to use the chart from 4.3 as a tool for kids who need help framing their assignment.
It gives categories to start with when observing.

• Help students focus on the process — not the product. It is more important that they notice that each
animal has unique behaviors. They don’t need to identify them ALL.

22
 ACTIVITY 2.3 name

HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT: ETHOGRAM DEVELOPMENT

1 In class we have discussed the variety of questions 4 Carefully describe what you mean by each named
about animal behavior that we can scientifically behavior. Your description must be complete and precise
investigate. Your homework assignment is to develop enough that any other person reading your ethogram will
an ethogram for a species that you can readily observe be able to picture the behavior you are describing and
at home. Now you must choose a study species to work distinguish it from any other behavior.
on outside of [Link] could be a pet (dog, cat,
goldfish, etc), a household pest (ant, cockroach, 5 Organize your behaviors into functional categories so
mouse, etc.), or neighborhood wildlife (cardinal, crow, that behaviors which achieve a common function will
gray squirrel, bumblebee, etc.). While pets have the be grouped together (e.g., holding food, biting,
advantage of being readily available for observation, you chewing, and looking for food can all be grouped
are likely to be limited to only being able to observe one, together as foraging). Functional categories may
or few, individuals of the species. On the other hand, include: foraging behaviors, resting behaviors, play
although you may have to spend more effort finding behaviors, predator avoidance, reproductive behaviors,
local wildlife to observe, you should be able to obtain care of young. Note that these are each vast categories
observations of multiple individuals, including both that include many different behaviors! Refer to Animal
sexes and even different ages. Whys and the domestic dog ethogram if necessary.

2 Observe your species for five to ten minute blocks of 6 Supplement entries by noting whether behaviors are
time spread out over the course of the days you have common or rare and perhaps begin to quantify the
to work. Try to make your observations at different frequency with which you see each behavior.
times of day and, if possible, on different individuals
of the species. Remember, you will NOT see a full 7 Supplement entries by creating a flow chart of
range of behaviors for the organism you are observing different behaviors and which ones are linked. (See
in this in this limited observation. sample chart on page 24.)

3 Name and list all of the behaviors you observe. Be as Your final ethogram should include 1) a list of 15 – 20
specific as possible. For example, a rabbit eating different named behaviors. 2) These should be organized into
lettuce isn’t just eating. First she bites off the leaf at functional categories. 3) Each behavior should be described
the base using her incisors, next she may strip out the in detail so that the reader can picture the behavior in his/her
rib or vein. Finally, she chews the leaf with her molars, mind. 4) Any additional information on the context (where or
perhaps while holding the leaf in her front paws. when the behavior occurs) or frequency (e.g., 5 times in an
hour, or every minute) of the behaviors should be included.

23
 ACTIVITY 2.3 name

A BEHAVIORAL FLOW CHART

The arrows flowing from a particular behavior represent all the behaviors that follow it.
You can make some arrows darker to represent more frequent sequences.

Sleeping

Walking

Grooming

Feeding

Playing

24
SECTION 3

INTRODUCTION TO
SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY, SAMPLING,
AND DATA ANALYSIS

SECTION OVERVIEW

These lessons are designed to give students

an introduction to scientific inquiry,
including data collection and data analysis.
The activities give students an opportunity
to compare sampling methods, interpret
data, and identify the questions for which
they are appropriate.

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3.1 WHICH SAMPLING METHOD WORKS BEST?

Lesson Overview quadrant – one part of an area marked off in fourths,

or four quadrants.
Students will observe animals using two different scan sampling – collecting data at specified time
sampling methods with prepared data sheets. This intervals, and noting what each animal is currently
introduces them to the idea that scientists use different doing or where they are located. Still photos may be
tools for different tasks. It also encourages them to useful in doing this sampling.
observe a variety of aspects of behavior. states – behaviors that last for some period of time.
They have a clear beginning and end, and some period
Student Objectives of time lapses in between (e.g. rest, play, feed).
tally – record data by making hash marks; indicates
After completing this activity, students will be able to: numbers or counts.
time budget – a record of how an organism spends
1 describe two sampling methods used in animal its time.
behavior research.
2 choose the most appropriate sampling method to Timeline
answer a given research question.
3 explain the difference between behavior states 1 class period
and behavior events.
4 plan, use and analyze a time budget. Group size
5 use prepared sheets to collect behavioral data.
Whole class discussion and analysis; some time spent
Key Terms in small groups

all occurrences sampling – recording each time a Materials

behavior is performed, either on a focal animal or
among all animals present. — Dry erase or chalk board
events – behaviors that last for a very brief time. It is — 1 classroom rodent (mouse, hamster, gerbil, etc.)
occurs, and who each behavior involves (e.g. bite, in a cage
vocalize, approach). — Empty aquarium with bedding and rodent supplies.
focal animal sampling – collecting data focusing on Tape the bottom edge of the cage and label each
one, individual animal at a time, noting every behavior corner with letters A–D, creating quadrants.
that animal performs, and then pooling the data for a — Stopwatch
number of different animals. Video is a useful tool for this — All Occurrences Sampling data sheet
type of sampling. Working in teams is also useful. — Scan Sampling data sheet: Habitat use
interval – one segment of time designated by the — Scan Sampling data sheet: Marked individuals
researcher for making observations. — Focal Sampling data sheet
— Looking for Patterns handout (optional)
— Which Sampling Method Works Best? worksheet

26
3.1 WHICH SAMPLING METHOD WORKS BEST?

Procedure 10 Have students look over their data and see if they can
infer anything about rodents from the data they
1 Ask students how we could find out how middle collected. What is missing? Can any clear
school students spend their time. Write possible understanding or answer come from these two
answers on the board. samplings of data? Does it need to be compared to
something else?
2 Ask students what a time budget might be. Write
possible answers on the board. 11 Point out the different questions on the worksheets.
How is each type of sampling suited to each question?
3 Ask them what a time budget for a middle school student
might look like. As a class, design one on the board. 12 Explain that all animals are engaging in some type of
behavior all the time –- even if it doesn’t look like it
4 Hand out the All Occurrences Sampling data sheet. and only one kind of behavior at a time.
Discuss how to tally. What does all occurrences mean?
What does tally mean? What is a focal behavior? Refer 13 Scientists use two terms to separate types of
to key terms. Why are the behaviors defined? Discuss behaviors — states and events. Write these terms and
any unclear parts. definitions on the board or overhead.

5 Position the students in a circle with the rodent cage in 14 Have students look at the two different Scan Sampling
the center on a desk. Start the time and have students data sheets. Are the behaviors listed mostly states or
tally all occurrences of behavior for 5-7 minutes. events? (These are mostly events. Eating and
grooming can be states — depending on length of
6 Have students total the tallies. To find the percentage, time) What if the rodent was sleeping? Would this
divide the total of each behavior by the total of all type of sampling method be helpful? (not for only
occurrences, then multiply by 100 (e.g., 5 sniffs of food 5 minutes — but it would for longer periods of time)
divided by 52 total behavior occurrences multiplied by
100 = 9.6% of the time spent sniffing food). Discuss 15 Now look at the All Occurrences Sampling data sheet.
problems or questions. Many students find this part difficult. Are you recording states or events? (This should be
mostly states – it is likely that an event could be lost if
7 Hand out the two Scan Sampling data sheets. Discuss it is between recording times. Ask students if this was
how to tally on these sheet. What does scan mean? observed by anyone.)
What is a quadrant? What are intervals? What area is
A? B? C? D? Refer to key terms. 16 How do scientists decide which type of ethogram
to use? (It is determined by the question they seek
8 Again, group the students in a circle. Place the quadrant to answer.)
labeled cage into the center of the circle. Move the
rodent into the new cage. Begin the time as soon as it is 17 Hand out Which Sampling Method Works Best? or
inside. Speak or ring a bell every 20 seconds to remind write the questions on the board. As a group, discuss
students to tally data. Students can work in cooperative which sampling methods would provide the most
groups with a timekeeper, an observer who calls out the useful information in answering the questions, or
observations, a recorder who writes, and one who takes assign the worksheet as homework.
care of the materials and sets up the quadrants.
18 Have students summarize their understanding of
9 Ask students to total tallies and find percentages. each sampling type in their science journals.
Discuss problems.
27
3.1 WHICH SAMPLING METHOD WORKS BEST?

Teacher Tips

SAMPLING
METHOD DEFINITION C O N S I D E R AT I O N S
All Occurrences Recording each time a Especially useful for studying rare or infrequent
Sampling behavior is performed, either behaviors. Also useful if you are interested in
on a focal animal or among whether a behavior occurs more in one setting, by
all animals present. one sex, by one age class, etc. Time budgets cannot
be derived from this type of data. Not useful if
you are interested in the amount of time spent in a
given state; more useful in studying behavioral events.

Focal Animal Collecting data focusing Video is a useful tool for this type of sampling.
Sampling on one individual animal Working in teams is also useful. This is the only type
at a time, noting every of sampling that gives us data with which we can
behavior that animal generate a flow chart. Time budgets can be derived
performs, and then pooling from this type of data. Especially useful if you are
the data for a number of interested in the amount of time spent in a given state;
different animals. less appropriate if you are studying behavioral events.

Scan Sampling Collecting data at specified Still photos may be useful in doing this sampling.
time intervals, and noting This method is useful in asking question about habitat
what each animal is preference, food preference, or preferred nearest
currently doing or where neighbor. Time budgets can be derived from this type
they are located. of data. The fraction of time spent in a given state
can be derived from this data. If you are studying
behavioral events, you are likely to miss them with
this sampling method.

Different sampling methods can be used to answer the same question. It can be an interesting
exercise for advanced students to compare the answer they get from collecting observations with
different sampling methods.

28
 ACTIVITY 3.1 name

ALL OCCURRENCES SAMPLING DATA SHEET

All Occurrences: Recording each time a behavior is performed, either on a focal animal or
among all animals present.
Uses: Especially useful for studying rare of infrequent behaviors. Also useful if you are
interested in whether a behavior occurs more in one setting, by one sex, by one age class,
etc. Time budgets cannot be derived from this type of data. Not useful if you are interested
in the amount of time spent in a given state; more useful in studying behavioral events.

What activity does a classroom animal spend most of its time doing?
Prediction: ____________________________________________________________________
Species: ______________________________________________________________________
Start Time: _____________ End Time: _____________

Tally all occurrences of selected focal behaviors.

POSSIBLE BEHAVIORS OCCURRENCES TOTAL PERCENTAGE

Sniffs food
Looks around cage
Enters shelter
Climbs on object
Self grooms
Eats
Runs on wheel
Other
Total behaviors 100%

DEFINITIONS
Add to this list or change it as necessary for your species.

Sniffs food – nose within two centimeters and pointing toward food
Looks around cage – both paws are up on side of cage
Enters shelter – all four feet are under roof of shelter
Climbs on object – all four feet are on object
Self grooms – lick, scratch or rub any part of own body
Eats – chew on food in any way
Runs on wheel – all four paws are on the wheel and it turns
Other – any behavior not mentioned (specify)

29
 ACTIVITY 3.1 name

SCAN SAMPLING DATA SHEET: HABITAT USE

Scan Sampling: Collecting data at specified time intervals, either on focal animal or group.
Uses: This method is useful in asking questions about habitat preference. If you are studying behavioral
events, you are likely to miss them with this sampling method.

How does your chosen species explore a new environment? Which substrate does the animal prefer?
Prediction: _____________________________________________________________________________
Species: _______________________________________________________________________________
Start Time: _____________ End Time: _____________
Scan by quadrants at 15 second intervals. Record the number of animals in each quadrant or the behaviors
observed in each quadrant.

QUADRANTS
TIME A B C D
15
30
45
1:00
15
30
45
2:00
15
30
45
3:00
15
30
45
4:00
15
30
45
5:00
15
30
45
6:00
15
30
45
7:00
TOTAL
%age

What does your data tell you? Explain in a few sentences what you have learned about where your animal
prefers to be.

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 ACTIVITY 3.1 name

SCAN SAMPLING DATA SHEET: MARKED INDIVIDUALS

Scan Sampling: Collecting data at specified time intervals, either on focal animal.
Uses: This method is useful in asking questions about habitat preference, food preference, or preferred
nearest neighbor. Time budgets can be derived from this type of data. The fraction of time spent in a given
state can be derived from this data. If you are studying behavioral events, you are likely to miss them with
this sampling method.

How do different classroom animals behave?

Prediction: _____________________________________________________________________________
Species: _______________________________________________________________________________
Start Time: _____________ End Time: _____________
Scan by quadrants at 15 second intervals. Record the behavior of each animals at the moment of the scan.
Use the behaviors identified on the All Occurrences sheet.

INDIVIDUAL ANIMAL IDENTIFIER (FILL IN BELOW)

TIME
15
30
45
1:00
15
30
45
2:00
15
30
45
3:00
15
30
45
4:00
15
30
45
5:00
15
30
45
6:00
15
30
45
7:00
TOTAL
%age

What does your data tell you? Explain in a few sentences what you have learned about how these animals
spent their time.
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 ACTIVITY 3.1 name

FOCAL SAMPLING DATA SHEET

Focal Sampling: Collecting data focusing on one individual animal at a time.
Uses: This is the only type of sampling that gives us data with which we can generate a flow chart. Time
budgets can be derived from this type of data. Focal Sampling is especially useful if you are interested in
the amount of time spent in a given state; less appropriate if you are studying behavioral events.

How does your chosen individual behave?

Prediction: _____________________________________________________________________________
Species:____________________________________ Individual ID:______________________________
Start Time: _____________ End Time: _____________
Focus your observations on one individual for the given period of time. Record every behavior the animal
performs during the observation period. Different students may focus on different individuals.

TIME Behaviors

What does your data tell you? Explain in a few sentences what you have learned about how your
animal behaves.

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 ACTIVITY 3.1 name

WHICH SAMPLING METHOD WORKS BEST?

FOR EACH OF THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS:

• Write in the sampling method that would best measure the behavior, and indicate the reason.
• Use your notes and work together as a group.

all occurrences sampling: recording each time a behavior is performed, either on a focal
animal or among all animals present.
events: behaviors that last for a brief time. It is usually important to know how often each
behavior occurs, and who each behavior involves. (e.g., bite, vocalize, approach)
focal animal sampling: collecting data focusing on one individual animal at a time. Video
is a useful tool for this type of sampling. Working in teams is also useful.
interval: one segment of time designated by the researcher for making observations.
quadrant: one part of an area marked off in fourths, or four quadrants.
scan sampling: collecting data at specified time intervals, either on focal animal or
group. Still photos may be useful in doing this sampling.
states: behaviors that last for some period of time. They have a clear beginning and end,
and some period of time lapses in between. (e.g., rest, play, feed)

1 Which part of the yard does my dog use the most?

2 How do birds spend their time?

3 Which area of a cat’s body is groomed the most?

4 What kind of dog food does my dog like best?

5 What does a squirrel do most — eat or play?

6 Does the male cardinal take part in parenting?

7 How much of a duck’s time is spent preening (grooming)?

8 When is a mouse most active?

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 ACTIVITY 3.1 name

LOOKING FOR PATTERNS:

DEVELOPING A BEHAVIORAL FLOW CHART

Look over your focal sample observations. Do you see any patterns? Does one behavior
almost always lead to another behavior? Create a flow chart that shows the order in which
behaviors occur and how often each behavior follows another. Explain a few of the major
trends that your flow chart illustrates.

Sample flow chart

The arrows from a particular behavior represent all the behaviors that occur after it. The
percentage shows how often the behavior is followed by each other behavior. In this
example sleeping is followed by walking 77% of the time, and by grooming 23% of the
time. Playing is always followed by grooming. In order to generate a flow chart like this,
you need focal sample data, because it records sequences of events.

Sleeping
77%

23%
Walking
76%

82%
18%
Grooming 91%
13%

100%
Feeding

11%
9%

Playing

34
3.1 WHICH SAMPLING METHOD WORKS BEST?

Answers to W h i c h S a m p l i n g M e t h o d W o r d s B e s t ?

1 Which part of the yard does my dog use the most?

Scan sampling, because it determines location.

2 How do birds spend their time?

Focal sampling, because long-term observations are needed.

3 Which area of a cat’s body is groomed the most?

All occurrences of grooming behaviors will answer this, or the cat’s body
can be divided into different quadrants and a scan sample can be taken
during grooming.

4 What kind of dog food does my dog like best?

Focal sampling, because data is needed on one animal, or if a number of
food bowls are available, scan sample can get at how often the dog is eating
each food.

5 What does a squirrel do most – eat or play?

Focal sampling, because information about one animal over a period of time
is needed.

6 Does the male cardinal take part in parenting?

All occurrences, because you are trying to determine if parental behavior
occurs in males. You are not looking for a frequency just whether the
behavior occurs.

7 How much of a duck’s time is spent preening (grooming)?

Focal sampling can give you data on how much of their time is spent in
preening, or you could take all occurrences data for just preening in a flock
of ducks.

8 When is a mouse most active?

Scan sampling determines time of activity. All occurrences data on active
vs. inactive could also give you data with which to answer this question.

35
3.1 WHICH SAMPLING METHOD WORKS BEST?

Student Research Samples

Read the following descriptions of student animal research. Decide which sampling method
was used in their experiment.

A After observing the channel-billed toucan at the zoo, Emily wondered which parts of the exhibit
the bird used the most. She thought maybe the toucans spent most of their time in trees, so she
predicted that the toucan would spend most of its time in the part of the exhibit with a tree in it.
What sampling method should Emily use to answer her question? _______________________

B Kit was observing a group of white storks. He wondered how storks spend their time.
He predicted that they spent most of their time standing.
What sampling method should Kit use to answer his question? __________________________

C Duane was studying the spectacled owl. It didn’t seem to be moving around much the afternoon
he made his observations. He wondered if the owl was more active morning, afternoon, evening,
or night. He predicted that it was most active at night.
What sampling method should Duane use to answer his question?_______________________

D Keesha was watching the gorals at the zoo. She thought they groomed themselves right after
playing with each other on the rocks.
What sampling method should Keesha use to answer her question?______________________

Answers to S t u d e n t R e s e a r c h S a m p l e s

A Scan sampling

B Either focal or a scan sample can give data on the frequencies of behaviors. If individuals are hard
to follow because animals move away, scan samples may work better. Otherwise pooling the focal
sample data from multiple individuals will give an answer.

C Focal sampling would give Duane this data on a single individual.

D Only focal sampling will give Keesha the sequence data which she needs to answer her question.

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3.2 S A M P L E D ATA A N A LY S I S : J I M ’ S C R I C K E T S A N D
M A R S H A L L’ S C R O W S

Lesson Overview Timeline

Students participate in a sample analysis exercise to 1 – 2 class periods

discuss factors of analysis. They sort through useful
and irrelevant data. They look for patterns or trends Groups Size
that help them decide whether their data support the
hypothesis in question. Small groups

Student Objectives Materials

After completing this activity, students will be able to: — Jim’s Crickets handout
— Marshall’s Crows handout
1 determine whether data support or refute a — Calculators
hypothesis. — Graph paper
2 calculate the mean, median and mode of data
they collect.
3 accurately graph quantitative data.
4 identify whether a data set they collect has
incomplete or missing data.

Key Terms

analyze – to examine in detail, to break a whole into parts

descriptive statistics – quantitative data pooled together
and organized to describe the characteristics of a group
statistical tests – methods for determining whether
trends, relationships, or differences in groups or
treatments are the result of random variation in nature
or indicate real patterns
mean – the average
median – the middle number of a list of numbers
mode – the most frequent number in a list of numbers
axis – the horizontal or vertical lines on a graph
hypothesis – the answer to your scientific question
about the outcome of your experiment
prediction – an explanation of your hypothesis; the why

37
3.1 S A M P L E D ATA A N A LY S I S : J I M ’ S C R I C K E T S A N D M A R S H A L L’ S C R O W S

Procedure 3 Discuss how to go about analyzing the data. Take

suggestions from the students. Discuss what analysis
1 Discuss the ideas of: scientific question, hypothesis, means. What statistical information would help?
and specific prediction. What do you do with the data? (mean, mode, median,
patterns, or trends)
2 Hand out Jim’s Crickets.
6 Give the students time to analyze the data in small
3 Read the directions together. groups.

4 You might want to divide this exercise into two parts. 7 Go over the answers to the exercise. See if students
The first three questions help students understand the can spot the irrelevant data (courtship occurrence).
differences between scientific question, hypothesis,
and specific prediction. These can be discussed in 8 Discuss the importance of planning your data analysis
one period. The remaining questions lead them before beginning your research project.
through data analysis and can be discussed in a
subsequent class period. 9 Hand out Marshall’s Crows. Either use this as an
opportunity to test students’ understanding or as a
second example of data analysis for more practice.

Teacher Tips

• Depending on the level of your students, you can use

these activities in a variety of ways. You can work on
them as a class, break them into parts and work on them
in small groups as guided practice (#1-3, #4-6), or have
students work on the whole thing independently.

• Go through the description as a class and underline

clue words like wondered and maybe to help students
identify the question and prediction.

• Give your students cues as to how to read the data chart.

Discuss any unknown terms (ovipositor, courtship). They
could highlight the data that is relevant to Jim’s question
and hypothesis.

38
 ACTIVITY 3.2 name

JIM’S CRICKETS

WING BUDS ARE PRESENT IN JUVENILE

CRICKETS, BUT FULL SIZE WINGS LIKE
T H E S E A R E S E E N O N A D U LT S .

THE OVIPOSITOR IS THE ORGAN WITH

W H I C H T H E F E M A L E C R I C K E T L AY S
EGGS. IT EXTENDS STRAIGHT BACK
FROM THE ABDOMEN.

Jim has been studying crickets all month. First he created a detailed ethogram of more than 40 cricket behaviors,
including 5 different songs.

During the long hours of observation, Jim thought he noticed distinct differences between the time budgets of
different females. He wondered whether older females might have different priorities and constraints on their
behavior. He thought that older females would need to consume more calories to maintain their larger bodies. He
also expected that they would have to spend more time feeding than smaller, younger females. Jim marked individual
females with tiny dots of paint and began collecting data on their behaviors. Here is a table from Jim’s journal. Your
job is to decide whether his predictions were met and whether he should accept or reject his hypothesis.

Food Items Observed Eaten Behavioral Time Budget (%)

Female Ovipositor Weight Courtship Feeding

Cricket # length Wings (grams) Observed Apple Cat Food Lettuce Behaviors Courtship Oviposition Hiding
(mm)

1 5 Y 2 0 X X 14 7 4 73
2 6 Y 2 3 X X 13 5 2 76
4 8 Y 3 2 X X 12 6 4 73
6 3 N 1 0 X X 21 0 0 75
7 6 Y 2 1 X X 15 4 2 74
9 3 N 1 0 X 14 0 0 80
12 3 N 1 0 X X 19 0 0 79
15 4 N 2 0 17 0 0 81
16 6 Y 2 1 X X 15 6 4 71
17 3 N 1 0 X X X 18 0 0 75

39
 ACTIVITY 3.2 name

JIM’S CRICKETS QUESTIONS

1 Clearly state Jim’s general research question.

2 Clearly state Jim’s hypothesis.

3 Clearly state Jim’s prediction. (What does he expect to see if his hypothesis is correct?)

State Jim’s hypothesis and specific prediction in an if-then form:

If _________________________________________ then _________________________________________

4 Highlight or circle the data that is relevant to testing Jim’s prediction. How can you decide whether Jim’s data
supports his hypothesis or not? Present his data graphically to demonstrate whether it supports his hypothesis or not.

5 What statistics can you calculate to help decide whether Jim’s hypothesis is supported or not? How do
statistical tests help us decide?

6 How might you modify or rephrase Jim’s prediction? Explain your reasoning.

7 What else does Jim’s data suggest to you? Why can’t we just collect lots of data and decide what they tell us
after the fact? What risk do we run if we make our hypotheses and predictions after we see the data?

8 What should Jim do next? What other information does he need or what other data should he collect to test his
hypothesis? Why? What other questions might these data point him to further investigate?

9 Write any words or phrases you don’t understand.

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3.2 S A M P L E D ATA A N A LY S I S : J I M ’ S C R I C K E T S A N D M A R S H A L L’ S C R O W S

Answers to J I M ’ S C R I C K E T S 6 How might you modify or rephrase Jim’s prediction?

Explain your reasoning.
1 Clearly state Jim’s general research question. The smaller crickets spend more time eating because
Do older female crickets have different priorities than they are still growing.
smaller, younger female crickets?
7 What else does Jim’s data suggest to you?
2 Clearly state Jim’s hypothesis. Maybe the type of food makes a difference. Only small
If older female crickets need to consume more calories crickets ate lettuce.
than younger female crickets in order to maintain their
larger bodies. Why can’t we just collect lots of data and decide what
they tell us after the fact?
3 Clearly state Jim’s prediction. If we don’t know what we are looking for, we may not
…Then older females have to spend more time feeding collect the kind of data that will best answer the
than smaller, younger females. question. Also, some variables may not have been
controlled.
4 How can you decide whether Jim’s data supports
his hypothesis or not? Present his data graphically What risk do we run if we make our hypotheses and
demonstrate whether it supports his hypothesis or not. predictions after we see the data?
Identify what is a large and a small cricket. If you make your hypothesis and predictions before
5-8 mm for ovipositor and >2 grams of weight) seeing the data, the experiment is a real test of the
hypothesis. It is possible to find patterns and trends in
Find the mean, median and mode of the percent of any large data set. Some of those are just accidents of
time for feeding behaviors of large and small crickets. random sampling. So if you collect data, and make a
(graph the mean) hypothesis and prediction afterwards, you are likely to
make false conclusions.
5 What statistics can you calculate to help decide
whether Jim’s hypothesis is supported or not? 8 What should Jim do next? What other information does
How do statistical tests help us decide? he need or what other data should he collect to test his
hypothesis? Why? What other questions might these
Large: Small: data point him to further investigate?
Mean 13.8% Mean 17.8% Conduct additional trials — more crickets.
Median 14% Median 18% Test specific food types.
Mode 15% Mode n/a Is male feeding behavior similar or different?
Why do crickets spend so much time hiding?
The larger percentage of feeding behaviors for small Is there a relationship between feeding times and
crickets indicates that they spend more time eating courtship times?
than larger ones, which is opposite of Jim’s prediction.

41
 ACTIVITY 3.2 name

MARSHALL’S CROWS

Marshall has decided to study the trade-offs that crows need to

make when feeding. He knows that if crows did not have to feed,
they could stay very safe up in trees and always be looking
around for dogs, cats, and other predators. But they do have to
feed. And when a crow is busy eating, it cannot be looking
around for dogs at the same time.

Marshall has hypothesized that crows may get around this

problem by staying in large groups or mobs. Even though this
may lead to more competition for food, a crow in a mob might
benefit from the early warning caws of its neighbors.

Marshall has made the prediction that the larger the mob size, the more time each crow can spend feeding and less time
each needs to spend watching for predators.

Marshall made this hypothesis and prediction after watching crows in Forest Park for a total of 15 hours over four
weekends. He has generated an ethogram which describes more than 30 different crow behaviors. Among the feeding
behaviors are: perching on trash can, pecking at French fry bag, perching on roadkill, pecking at guts, flipping tidbit in
the air, swallowing tasty morsel. Among the predator avoidance behaviors are: stretch neck and stand on tippy toes,
look left, look right, hop onto higher perch and look around.

Marshall has decided to spend his Thanksgiving break collecting data with which to test his hypothesis. Aside from the
two hours he needs to spend at his grandparents’ house, he will be in Forest Park from dawn to dusk each day. He wants
to collect data on at least ten different mobs of crows.

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 ACTIVITY 3.2 name

MARSHALL’S CROWS QUESTIONS

1 What group characteristics will Marshall need to note about each of the mobs that he plans to observe?

2 What data will Marshall have to collect on individual crows in each mob? What type of sampling will he need to do?

3 What will Marshall have to do to pool the behavioral data he collects for each different mob of crows? How many crows in
each mob should he observe?

4 Make a data sheet that Marshall can use to collect his data on each of his mobs.

5 Did Marshall use anthropomorphism? Why/Why not?

6 Even before he has the data, we know what the axes of Marshall’s final graphs should be. What type of graph should he
use (bar graphs, scatter plot, pie chart)? Draw the axes of his graphs and label the axes.

7 Draw what you expect to see if the data supports Marshall’s hypothesis. (Use red.)

8 Draw what you could see if Marshall’s hypothesis is not supported by the data. (Use blue.)

9. State another prediction that would follow from Marshall’s hypothesis.

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3.2 S A M P L E D ATA A N A LY S I S : J I M ’ S C R I C K E T S A N D M A R S H A L L’ S C R O W S

Answers to M A R S H A L L’ S C R O W S 7 Draw what you expect to see if the data supports

Marshall’s hypothesis. (Use red.)
1 What group characteristics will Marshall need to note Indicated by solid lines
about each of the mobs that he plans to observe?
He will need to note the size of each mob.

average time spent looking

2 What data will Marshall have to collect on individual
crows in each mob? What type of sampling will he need
to do?
Marshall wants to know how much time crows in
different size mobs spend feeding and looking for
predators. He should do focal sampling on different
individuals and quantify what percentage of their time is
spent feeding versus looking around.
large mob small mob
3 What will Marshall have to do to pool the behavioral
data he collects for each different mob of crows? 8 Draw what you could see if Marshall’s hypothesis is
How many crows in each mob should he observe? not supported by the data. (Use blue.)
He needs to take an average or mean of the percent Indicated by dashed lines
of time spent feeding and looking around. He should
observe as many crows as possible per mob and at
average time spent lfeeding

least 10 mobs of each size.

4 Make a data sheet that Marshall can use to collect

his data on each of his mobs.

Mob number _________

Crow #1 (5 min.) List all behaviors and time spent at each.
Crow #2 (5 min.) List all behaviors and time spent at each.

5 Did Marshall use anthropomorphism? large mob small mob

Yes: tasty morsel, tippy toes
9 State another prediction that would follow from
6 Even before he has the data, we know what the axes Marshall’s hypothesis.
of Marshall’s final graphs should be. What type of graph Predator avoidance behavior vs. feeding is at
should he use (bar graph, scatter plot, pie chart)? Draw approximately the same ratio, no matter how large
the axes of his graphs and label the axes. the mob is.
He should use bar graphs. (See graph axes after no. 8.)

44
3.3 HOW DO WE CHOOSE A SCIENTIFIC QUESTION
T O I N V E S T I G AT E ? PA R T I

Lesson Overview
Group Size
Students evaluate sample questions about behaviors.
They must determine if the questions are scientifically Whole class
answerable and what methods would be required for
testing hypotheses that follow from these questions. Materials
Reviews how to write a testable research question, as
well as the scientific method. — Dry erase or chalk board (or overhead projector)
— Homework: Scientific or Not worksheet; Testable
Student Objectives or Not worksheet

1 Students will be able to distinguish a scientific Procedure

question from a hypothesis.
2 Students will be able to accurately identify scientific 1 One of the most difficult steps for students doing
research questions. independent research projects is the choice of a
3 Students will be able to describe appropriate tests of research topic and framing of a research question.
hypotheses. The topics and questions most interesting to the
student might be either inappropriate for scientific
Key Terms investigation or impossible to investigate given their
time, experience and [Link] following work-
scientific question – a question that can be answered sheets are designed to help students distinguish
by observing and analyzing data scientific questions from unscientific questions and
prediction – An estimate of what will happen in an testable hypotheses from untestable hypotheses
experiment. (either inherently untestable or untestable given the
quantifiable – able to be measured or counted students’ experience and resources).
variables – range of situations or circumstances that
could affect the outcome of an experiment such as Before they begin on the worksheets, a class
temperature, sunlight, time, noise from the hall). discussion of successful scientific investigations
should get them thinking along productive lines.
Timeline

2 class periods

45
3.3 H O W D O W E C H O O S E A S C I E N T I F I C Q U E S T I O N T O I N V E S T I G AT E ? PA R T I

a You can ask your class the open ended question: What iii Nathan wants to know if koalas prefer any particular
are necessary and/or desirable features of a scientific part of the eucalyptus leaf.
question that we want to investigate? Nathan can observe the koalas eating and see if
they eat certain parts first, or if they discard certain
Scientific questions are typically: parts of the leaves.

Interesting to the Researcher iv Azaria wants to know if koalas can digest other green
If you don’t care about the answer, your data is apt to foods like lettuce, cabbage, cucumber, spinach.
be less detailed. Perhaps this could be tested by examining the stool
of koalas who ate these foods and determining
Simple and Straightforward how far these different foods were digested.
Too many variables makes the test harder to control However, the koalas are unlikely to even taste foods
and the results harder to analyze. and the zoo certainly wouldn’t allow Azaria to
tamper with their diets.
Answerable and Practical
You need to have access to the necessary tools and v Christopher wants to know why koalas only eat
have time to complete the experiment. eucalyptus leaves.
Like Aubri, he might be able to find the answer to
Quantifiable this question in the library, but not by taking his
Results that are measured and/or counted are helpful own data at the zoo.
to other researchers. Questions about feelings,
motivations or purposes are harder to measure. 2 Ask students to work through the Scientific Question?
worksheet in groups of 2-3.
b Alternatively, you can organize the class discussion
around comparison of the following questions, and 3 Discuss their small group answers in the full class.
discuss whether they would be good choices for an
independent research project. Try to determine if a 4 Ask students to work through the Testable Hypothesis
middle school student could reach the question at our worksheet in groups of 2-3.
zoo, and what each student would have to do next:
5 Discuss the small group answers in the full class.
i Randy wants to know if koala bears enjoy eating
only eucalyptus leaves.
Since we can’t interview the koalas, it is difficult to
determine whether they enjoy something.

ii Aubri wants to know if eucalyptus leaves provide

enough nutrition for the koalas.
Aubri might be able to answer this with library
research, but we cannot test the nutritional needs
of a species by behavioral observations in a zoo.

46
 ACTIVITY 3.3 name

SCIENTIFIC QUESTION?

FOR EACH OF THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS:

• Indicate whether or not the question is a scientific question, and why.

• If the question is not scientific, revise it.

1 Are otters in danger?

2 Do naked mole rats like to eat carrots?

3 Why do meerkats stand up?

4 Are chimps closely related to humans?

5 Do male and female hornbills have different physical characteristics?

6 Is there any relationship between colors and behaviors of lizards?

7 Are storks social?

8 Why do honeybees like flowers?

9 Are sea lions lions?

10 If a boa constrictor and a tarantula fought, who would win?

11 Where do flamingos spend their time in the flight cage?

12 Do the rainbow lorikeets interact with other kinds of lorikeets in the aviary?

13 Why are cheetahs in trouble?

47
3.3 H O W D O W E C H O O S E A S C I E N T I F I C Q U E S T I O N T O I N V E S T I G AT E ? PA R T I

Answers to S C I E N T I F I C Q U E S T I O N ? 8 Why do honeybees like flowers?

Not scientific. Why do honeybees visit flowers?
Why do honeybees prefer to visit some flowers
1 Are otters in danger? over other lowers? Like is an
Not scientific. Are otters endangered? anthropomorphic term.

2 Do naked mole-rats like to eat carrots? 9 Are sea lions lions?

Not scientific. Do naked mole-rats eat carrots in Not scientific. How are sea lions related to lions?
preference to other foods?
10 If a boa constrictor and a tarantula fought, who
3 Why do meerkats stand up? would win?
Scientific. Not scientific. How do tarantulas and boa
constrictors defend themselves and capture
4 Are chimps closely related to humans? their prey? These species don’t fight each other
Scientific. because they don’t compete for the same food.

5 Do male and female hornbills have different 11 Where do flamingos spend their time in the
physical characteristics? flight cage at the zoo?
Scientific. Scientific.

6 Is there any relationship between colors and 12 Do the rainbow lorikeets interact with other
behaviors of lizards? kinds of lorikeets in the aviary?
Scientific. Scientific.

7 Are storks social? 13 Why are cheetahs in trouble?

Scientific. Not scientific. Why are cheetahs endangered?

48
 ACTIVITY 3.3 name

TESTABLE HYPOTHESIS?

FOR EACH OF THE FOLLOWING HYPOTHESES:

• Indicate whether or not the hypothesis is testable using quantitative data that you
could collect by observing animals at the zoo.
• If the question is not testable, revise it.
• What data would you collect to test the hypothesis?sis?

1 Otters enjoy swimming.

2 Naked mole-rats like to eat carrots.

3 Meerkats stand up in order to look out for predators.

4 Chimps are closely related to humans.

5 Male and female hornbills act the same.

6 Green lizards live in the crowns of trees and brown lizards live
on the trunks of trees.

7 Storks are social animals.

8 Honeybees visit flowers that are likely to have the most nectar.

9 Sea lions are a kind of lion.

10 A boa constrictor could beat a tarantula in a fight.

11 Flamingos spend most of their time in the northeast corner of

the flight cage at the zoo.

12 Rainbow lorikeets don’t like to interact with other kinds of lorikeets in

the aviary.

13 Cheetahs are hunted for their furs because people think they
are the most beautiful wild cat.

49
3.3 H O W D O W E C H O O S E A S C I E N T I F I C Q U E S T I O N T O I N V E S T I G AT E ? PA R T I

Answers to T E S T A B L E H Y P O T H E S I S ? 7 Storks are social animals.

Testable. Develop ethogram and determine
1 Otters enjoy swimming. whether they perform social behaviors such as
Not testable; we cannot know what they like. alarm calling and allogrooming. Scan sample
Alternative: Otters spend most of their time and determine whether animals are clumped,
swimming. Generate a time budget for otters. randomly distributed or evenly distributed.

2 Naked mole rats like to eat carrots. 8 Honeybees visit flowers that are likely to have the
Not testable; we cannot know what they like. most nectar.
Alternative: Naked mole-rats will eat carrots in Testable, but not at the zoo. Honeybees rest in
preference to other foods. Compare time spent the nest after bringing home a crop full of
eating different foods, or numbers of animals nectar. Focal sampling of bees that have just
eating different foods. returned to the hive will answer the question.

3 Meerkats stand up in order to look out for 9 Sea lions are a kind of lion.
predators. Not testable with observations at the zoo. Sea lions
Testable. Plot the number of meerkats standing and lions spend the same proportion of their time
and the number of people in front of their resting and moving around their enclosures.
exhibit. Compare the number of meerkats
standing when the foxes or sand cat are active 10 A boa constrictor could beat a tarantula in a fight.
versus when those predators are sleeping. Not testable with observations at the zoo. Most
predators will “stalk” their prey, even if they are not
4 Chimps are closely related to humans. fed live food. Focal sampling of various predatory
Testable, but not with observations at the zoo. species during feeding time will answer the question.
Chimps and humans spend similar proportions
of their time feeding, resting and moving. 11 Flamingos spend most of their time in the
Generate time budgets or the two species at northeast corner of the flight cage at the zoo.
the zoo using focal sampling. Testable by scan sampling.

5 Male and female hornbills are the same. 12 Rainbow lorikeets don’t like to interact with other
Not testable because the question is so vague. kinds of lorikeets in the aviary.
Male and female hornbills spend the same Not testable, because we cannot determine
proportion of their time feeding young. Focal what they like or dislike. Rainbow lorikeets
sampling and time budgets for the males and avoid interaction with other kinds of lorikeets
females would allow you to test this hypothesis. in the aviary. Scan sampling and comparison
of interspecific pairs versus intraspecific pairs
6 Green lizards live in the crowns of trees and interacting in the aviary will answer the question.
brown lizards live on the trunks of trees.
Testable. Scan sample and tally proportion of 13 Cheetahs are hunted for their furs because people
time spend on different surfaces. think they are the most beautiful wild cat.
Partly testable. Interview zoo visitors about which
is the most beautiful wild cat.
50
SECTION 4

ANIMAL BEHAVIOR
RESEARCH PROJECTS

SECTION OVERVIEW

This section contains activities centered

around conducting an independent research
project at a zoological park. Students will
write up a proposal for their zoo research
project, which will lay out the question,
hypothesis, prediction and sampling method
before the research begins. The final project
will include a report or presentation of their
results and analysis after completion.

51
4.1 INTRODUCTION:
C O N S I D E R AT I O N S F O R F I E L D C L A S S E S AT T H E Z O O

Animals on Exhibit 3 Consider how the students will move around the zoo.
How will you group them? Will you move as one big
Because zoos exhibit live animals, please understand group? Will small groups go to designated areas and
that sometimes there are circumstances beyond meet at a central location at a specified time? Do you
zookeepers’ control, and that animals may not need additional adult supervision?
always be on exhibit. As such, please have your
students plan for alternatives. The zoo information line 4 Provide students with a written outline of the day’s
can often give you a heads-up on what is happening activities, including times and meeting locations.
with different species around the zoo. This could be a small strip that they glue into their
science journal.
Student Considerations
5 Discuss proper behavior prior to arriving at the zoo.
In order to make the best of your students’ visit, there Remind students that the zoo is a museum, and the
are several things to keep in mind. behavior they exhibit should be appropriate for any
type of museum. They are not the only visitors, and
1 You will be much better able to direct students if should be respectful of others. Encourage them to pay
you are familiar with the areas your students are particularly close attention to small children. Middle
visiting. You may want to visit the zoo ahead of time. school students occasionally run over others, as they
Know where to direct students needing to find the can be self-absorbed.
nearest restroom. Are there students in wheelchairs or
using crutches? What is the most accessible route to
get to the exhibit?

2 When observing animals, students often want to

facilitate the animal’s behavior. By the time they are
visiting the zoo, they should understand they are trying
to observe the most natural behaviors. Also, if other
visitors are doing things to try and get the animals
to respond, they should note this occurrence in
comments on their data collection pages. They may
want to not include data collected during this time.

52
4.1 I N T R O D U C T I O N : C O N S I D E R AT I O N S F O R F I E L D C L A S S E S AT T H E Z 0 0

VISITING THE SAINT LOUIS ZOO

1 If you plan to have students dropped off at The Living
The Saint Louis Zoo is free and open to the public. Your World, direct the bus driver to enter Forest Park from
group does not need to register for a zoo visit unless you are Skinker Blvd. at Wells Drive. Turn left on Government
interested in classroom programs or tours (for which Drive and approach The Living World traveling
preregistration is necessary). To visit the zoo for the activities eastbound. Unload students in front of The Living World.
in this section, simply come to the zoo — there is no need to
call ahead. Contact the education department at 2 If you plan to have students dropped off at our South
(314) 768-5466 with questions about the zoo visit, or to Gate Entrance, direct the bus driver to enter Forest Park
learn more about programs, tours or curriculum resources from northbound Hampton Ave., turning west (left) at
available through the teacher resource center. You can also Wells Drive. Unload students in front of the South Gate
call ahead and have a member of the education department at the tall ZOO pylon.
meet your class and give them an introduction to the zoo.
Your students can also send questions to education 3 To assist both you and any zoo staff directing traffic
department staff by clicking on the WRITE US button on the to identify your bus, be sure your school name is
zoo web page, [Link].. clearly marked in the front passenger-side window.
Please note that the heaviest school visitation occurs
Hours in April and May. Consequently, you will need extra
The Saint Louis Zoo is open daily, year-round, except time to allow for heavy bus traffic. Please plan your
for Christmas Day and New Year’s Day. The zoo schedule accordingly.
grounds open at 8 a.m., buildings open at 9 a.m. The
zoo closes promptly at 5 p.m. in the winter and 7 p.m. Parking
in the summer (Memorial Day to Labor Day). Zoo Limited parking is available on the streets surrounding
entry is always free. The Children’s Zoo, Insectarium the zoo. Parking is available on either of our two lots. We
and Butterfly house are free between 9 and 10 a.m. charge $7 per car to park on our lots. Bus parking is $14,
Fridays are VERY busy at the Zoo — you may want to and is available on the South Lot only. Parking fees are
avoid visiting on Fridays. subject to change.

Bus Traffic Food Service

Please ask bus drivers to heed the following In order to make the most of your zoo visit, you may
guidelines to help assure both a safe and convenient want to eat lunch at the zoo. There are a variety of
arrival and departure. Buses may not unload or load opportunities, including having students bring their
across the street from either of our two entrances. own lunch, pre-ordering meals through the zoo, or
This practice is unsafe for students and creates traffic ordering that day from our food concessions.
congestion. Further, by entering the park in the
correct orientation, buses will not have to turn around,
thus preventing traffic tie-ups and delays in the start
of your visit.

53
4.1 I N T R O D U C T I O N : C O N S I D E R AT I O N S F O R F I E L D C L A S S E S AT T H E Z 0 0

1 You are welcome to bring your own sack lunches. Staff Assistance
Please note, however, the zoo is unable to store lunches
for you. Be prepared to carry your lunches or store them It is not necessary to speak to any staff before coming
in your bus or vehicle(s). Perhaps you could have your to the Zoo. However, a quick chat with a staff member
students carry backpacks with their own lunches. You may be beneficial to your students, depending on the
are welcome to eat your sack lunches at any of our purpose of the visit. If students have questions about
outdoor tables, except those on the terrace outside the a specific house or species, or if a quick overview of a
Painted Giraffe Cafe. topic would enrich the purpose of your visit, feel free
to call the education department at (314) 768-5466.
2 Zoo concessions offer a variety of fare including
burgers, hot dogs, pizza, salads and more. The Additionally, there is an information help line that
Painted Giraffe Cafe is located in The Living World, students or teachers can call to find answers to
and Lakeside Cafe is located in the Central Plaza. questions during their initial research. It is helpful if
the students are very clear on what they need to know
3 Bring your hungry herd and let us satisfy your appetites and have practiced asking their questions BEFORE
with sack lunches. Discounts are available for groups of calling the hotline. The number is (314) 768-5498,
15 or more. To order, call our group sales office at (314) ext. 498. Students can also write letters to the
781-0900, ext. 345, for menu and prices. Payment Education Department, or e-mail the Zoo on the
arrangements are to be made at the time of reservation. website [Link] under “Write Us.”
We accept cash, checks, American Express, Discover,
MasterCard and Visa. Materials Checklist:

— Stopwatches
— Notebooks
— Maps
— Data sheets
— Video cameras/digital cameras
— Clipboards (students often need a firm
writing surface)
— Pencils (pens don’t write well in the air)
— Lunch or money if necessary
— Agenda with time for meeting back up

54
4.2 CHOOSING A STUDY SPECIES FOR RESEARCH
O N A N I M A L B E H AV I O R AT T H E Z O O

Lesson Overview Zoo visit options for Section 4

Teachers may choose to make one, two or three visits.
In this lesson, students will choose a zoo animal for
their research project by viewing videos of 11 different
animals. This lesson begins the research project
process, and can include one, two or three zoo visits 4.2 Choosing a study
species for research
(see chart). on animal behavior
at the zoo
Student Objectives OPTIONAL ZOO VISIT
(first visit of two or three)
4.3 Organism exploration
After observing the behavior of various species, at the zoo

students will be able to choose a study species for 4.4 Ethogram

Development of the
behavioral research at the zoo.
Zoo Study Subject

Timeline
OPTIONAL ZOO VISIT
(second visit of three)
1 class period and one week outside of class 4.5 Field Study Research:
Ethogram
Supplementation
Group Size 4.6 Library Exploration
Note: Students may make
this visit on their own time.
Whole class and individual work

Materials
4.7 How do we choose
a Scientific Question?
— TV with DVD player, or computer with CD-ROM or
DVD and overhead projector
— “Behaving in Public,” CD-ROM or DVD video,
4.8 Research Proposal
included with curriculum

ZOO VISIT
(only or last visit)
4.9 Field Study
Research: Collecting
Behavioral Data

55
4.2 C H O O S I N G A S T U D Y S P E C I E S F O R R E S E A R C H O N A N I M A L B E H AV I O R AT T H E Z 0 0

Procedure SPECIES ON VIDEO

“BEHAVING IN PUBLIC”
1 The whole class will view a sampler video of 11 zoo
species, “Behaving in Public.” Lion-tailed Macaque
Ring-tailed Lemur
2 Students will be given time to read a bit more about the
species that attract their attention in the magazine that Butterflies
comes with this unit. If you plan two trips to the Goral
zoo, students can use the first trip to visit each of the
11 species before choosing their study species. River Otter
Naked Mole-rat
3 Have students answer the following questions about
all, or a subset, of the species they view. Malayan sun bear
Flamingo
What interests me about this animal?
Chimpanzee
What questions do I have about this animal?

Would I like to spend time observing this animal?

Why or why not?

Is this animal my choice for a research subject?

4 Students must each choose one of these species for

generation of an ethogram and research project. You
may want to limit the number of students that can work
on the same species (even though they will work
independently) by having a sign up sheet. It is helpful to
have small groups (not singles) for each species.

56
4.3 O R G A N I S M E X P L O R AT I O N AT T H E Z O O
(OPTIONAL FIRST VISIT OF TWO OR THREE)

Lesson Overview 3 Direct students to exhibits they should visit. Indicate

that they will observe each species to determine their
Students go to the zoo to observe potential species for a level of interest in that species. They need to complete a
behavioral study. For classes that can visit the zoo twice preliminary observation sheet for each species that they
(this is preferable), this visit is for preliminary exploration visit. Discuss how to use the data sheet if necessary.
and practice data gathering. If students can visit the zoo
twice or more, they can choose a species not on CD or 4 In addition to recording the behaviors they observe,
in the Animal Whys magazine. have them ask themselves the following questions:

Student Objectives What interests me about this animal?

While observing the behavior of various species at the What questions do I have about this animal?
zoo, students will be able to describe behaviors and
place the descriptions within appropriate categories. Would I like to spend time observing this animal?
Why or why not?
Key Terms
Is this animal my choice for a research subject?
exhibit – enclosure in which an animal lives in the zoo
5 Have students turn in their choices and reasons for
Timeline choosing their species. This can be done at the end of
the class or for homework.
3-4 hours

Materials

— Map of zoo Teacher Tips

— Observation sheets
• Remind students to consider the time of day they did
Procedure their observations.

1 Make sure all permission slips are signed. • Students will need a Preliminary Behavioral Observation
sheet for EACH species they will observe.
2 Depending on the age, size and maturity of your group,
you can have your class visit each of the animals as a
whole class, or assign students to visit each of the
areas in smaller groups in a specific amount of time.
Students can also make a short list of 4 possible study
species to visit and subsequently choose from.
57
 ACTIVITY 4.3 name

PRELIMINARY BEHAVIORAL OBSERVATIONS

Species: _______________________________ Date: __________

Time: _____________ Weather: _____________

Number of Animals in Exhibit:__________

BEHAVIORS OBSERVED IN EACH CATEGORY

feeding

eliminating waste

care giving

parental behaviors

care solicitation

grooming

nesting

exploratory behaviors

locomotion

agonistic behaviors

sexual behaviors

communication

social behaviors

seasonal behaviors

58
 ACTIVITY 4.3 name

PRELIMINARY BEHAVIORAL OBSERVATIONS

General observations or questions about these animals (use Animal Whys natural histories if necessary):

Drawing of animal observed:

59
4.4 ETHOGRAM DEVELOPMENT
OF THE ZOO STUDY SUBJECT

Lesson Overview Procedure

Students will generate an ethogram of their chosen 1 Students will view the 20 minute video of their chosen
study species by viewing a moderate length film of the species, and create an ethogram of the species.
species in the zoo. This will prepare them to develop Students can view these 20 minute segments as
a research question and hypothesis that they can test many times as they wish. Since these videos are
during a zoo visit. edited from many hours of observation, time budgets
cannot be obtained from them. The natural histories
Student Objectives in Animal Whys contain background information on
most of the animals in the videos.
While viewing a 20 minute video of their chosen study
species, students will be able to construct ethograms 2 Students will hand in the ethogram of their chosen
of that species. zoo species. This ethogram should contain a list of
behaviors observed, and a careful description of the
Timeline behaviors. Drawings can be added for clarification.
Behaviors should be organized into functional
One week outside of class categories such as: feeding, locomotion, social,
parental, etc. Students who take additional
Materials observations of their chosen species at the zoo can
add information about the frequency of different
— Computers with CD-ROM and Quicktime behaviors and can supplement their ethogram with
— CD Sampler set with: pictures of their chosen species. Refer students to
• Butterflies the dog ethogram in Animal Whys for a model.
• Chimpanzees
• Chinese gorals
• Goats
• Lion-tailed macaques
• Malayan sun bears Teacher Tips
• Naked mole-rats
• Paper kites • Remind students that the sampler videos will give them
• Pink flamingos a broad spectrum of behaviors — but are not shot in real
• Ring-tailed Lemurs time. They do not represent a valid behavior sample.
• River otters They will work for practicing data collection, and to give
• The Wild Ones: Olive baboons and them an idea of all possible behaviors of the animal.
Vervet monkeys
• Students can support one another in data collection.
One can watch the time, one record, one call out
behaviors, etc.
60
4.5 FIELD STUDY RESEARCH: ETHOGRAM SUPPLEMENTATION
(OPTIONAL SECOND VISIT OF THREE)

Lesson Overview Procedure

Students go to the zoo to observe their chosen study 1 Make sure all permission slips are signed.
species and supplement their ethogram on the species.
Students may do the visit on their own, after school or 2 Direct students to the location of their study species.
on weekends. This visit is for continued exploration, Indicate that they will observe their species to add new
practice data gathering, and familiarization with the behaviors to their ethogram and to develop a time
study species at the zoo. budget for their species. The sample student project in
the Appendix can be shared with students, if you wish.
Student Objectives

While observing their study species at the zoo, students

will be able to:

1 add newly-observed behaviors to an already-

constructed ethogram.
2 conduct scan or focal sampling to develop a time
budget for their study species.

Key Terms

exhibit – enclosure in which an animal lives in the zoo

cage decorations – suggestions of the animal’s natural
habitat found in the exhibit.

Timeline

3-4 hours

Materials

— Map of zoo
— Watches for each student
— Notebooks for recording observations

61
 ACTIVITY 4.5 name

PARENT VOLUNTEERS

Parent Volunteers,
Thanks so much for helping make this science project a success. The students have been hard at work training in various data
gathering techniques. For the zoo portion of the field trip, students will be assigned a particular area and a specific animal
species with which to work. We would like to have parent volunteers at each area to monitor students.

6TH GRADE ZOO FIELD CLASS

Volunteers — find your kids and head to the area to begin observations.

Group 1: 9 a.m. – 10:45 a.m. Group 2: 9 a.m. – 10:45 a.m.

Animal/Area Volunteers Volunteers
Puffin
Penguin
Lion Tailed macaque
Lemurs
Baboon
Prairie Dogs
Naked Mole Rats
Otter
10:45 a.m. Leave areas and meet back at entrance
Walk as a group to _______________________________ to have lunch. Lunch 11 a.m. to 12 p.m.
12:00 Leave picnic area: Volunteers — find your kids and head to the area to begin observations.

Group 1: 12:15 p.m. – 1:45 p.m. Group 2: 12:15 p.m. – 1:45 p.m
Animal/Area Volunteers Volunteers
Puffin
Penguin
Lion Tailed macaque
Lemurs
Baboon
Prairie Dogs
Naked Mole Rats
Otter
1:45 p.m. Leave areas and meet at entrance
2:00 p.m. Busses leave Zoo
2:15 – 2:30 p.m. Arrival at school

62
 ACTIVITY 4.5

PARENT VOLUNTEERS

Behavior Expectations

• Respectful communication to all: peers, parents, volunteers,

zoo staff, and teachers

• Positive participation in all activities

• Demonstrate responsible and respectful behavior towards all

school, zoo, and personal property

The Animal Behavior Observation Project goal is to give students

the opportunity to work in cooperative groups. They will gather
data on their assigned animals through the use of various sampling
techniques which they have practiced in class.

Here is a quick list of information for you to help make the field
experiences the best they can be!
Group Supplies
Project Expectations Each group will have:
2 clipboards
All students will participate positively in notebook paper
their lab groups. lab sheets
pencils
Group Roles stopwatches

• Leader _____________________________________________

• Materials Manger ____________________________________

• Timekeeper _________________________________________

• Chief Support _______________________________________

63
4.6 L I B R A RY E X P L O R AT I O N

Lesson Overview habitat – the type of vegetation, geology and climate in

which a species is found in nature.
After completion of the ethogram, students will be range – the largest area over which an organism
instructed to further explore their chosen species in the travels within its habitat
library and on the web. This exercise will further interactions – how an organism reacts to and affects
familiarize them with their study species and may lead other organisms. (plants and animals)
them to interesting research questions. conservation status – if an organism is threatened,
endangered, protected, or abundant. Based on
Student Objectives population numbers and resource/habitat availability.
library research – this is information (data) gained
After conducting library research on their study about the topic from books (print), videos, websites,
species, students will be able to provide the interviews, etc.
species’: scientific name, physical description, field research – this is data gained from conducting
reproductive/lifespan facts, species-specific behaviors, experimental trials (ethograms) or through observation
habitat/range, food sources, interactions with other of actual conditions (first hand).
species/environment, endangered status.
Timeline
Key Terms
2-3 class periods
scientific name – the Latin name assigned to each
kind of organism, made up of the genus name and Materials
species name.
life span – the average life length for an organism of a — Computer with Internet access
particular species — Library access
species – the most specific group an organism is
categorized in; the last part of the scientific name; a
group of organisms which share an evolutionary
lineage and which can successfully interbreed (if it is
a sexual species).

64
4.6 L I B R A RY E X P L O R AT I O N

Procedure 3 Give the students 1-3 days to conduct their library

exploration. Schedule time in a library and/or computer
1 Explain to students that they need to have some more lab. Refer to the appendix for specific websites and
background information to better understand their resources.
animal and to help them develop a scientific question.
To do this, they will do some library exploration. 4 This is a good opportunity to discuss note taking
Discuss the difference between research and library techniques. Share several methods with students.
exploration (often called library research).
5 Encourage students to create a questions page in their
2 Go over what information they will need to find on their journal. As questions arise regarding their animal, have
animal. Answer (or ask) questions about the specific them record them all in one place. Some of them will
categories. For example: be answered from their library exploration. Others may
serve as potential experiment questions later. See
What is a habitat? What does it have to do with student example in Appendix for a sample library
behavior? research write up.

What are species-specific behaviors?

What is a scientific name?

Teacher Tips
What does life span have to do with behavior?
• Provide an outlined form to organize research for
What is an organism’s physical description, and how students with special needs.
does that influence its behavior?

What is a range?

What food sources does an organism need?

What is an animal’s endangered status? How is that

determined?

How do we find out about interactions of an animal?

65
4.7 HOW DO WE CHOOSE A SCIENTIFIC QUESTION
T O I N V E S T I G AT E ? PA R T I I

Lesson Overview Procedure

Students will apply the tools of developing scientific 1 Review the steps of one scientific method. In this
questions, hypotheses and tests to their own study method, hypotheses are tested by using controlled
species at the zoo. experiments. These steps include:

Student Objectives Observe/Research

Question
After completing this activity, students will be able to: Hypothesis
Experiment/Data Collection
1 generate scientific questions and hypotheses. Data Interpretation/Analysis
2 describe appropriate tests of their hypotheses. Review Hypothesis
Report Findings
Timeline
2 Discuss the elements of testable scientific questions
Two classes that they examined in section 3.3.

Materials 3 Ask students to reflect on their ethogram and work

through the experimental development worksheet as
— Experimental Development worksheet homework.

4 The following day, students can compare their initial

research plans in small groups of 3-4 and correct
their work based on feedback from classmates before
handing in the work.

66
 ACTIVITY 4.7 name

EXPERIMENTAL DEVELOPMENT

1 List three scientific questions about the species for which you developed an ethogram at home.

2 Clearly state a hypothesis that follows from one of these questions.

2 Explain how you would test whether this hypothesis is supported. What comparisons would you make
or what trends would you look for?

4 Describe the methodology you would use.

5 Describe the sampling technique you would use.

6 What results would support your hypothesis?

7 What results would not support your hypothesis?

8 What results might be inconclusive?

67
4.8 RESEARCH PROPOSAL

Lesson Overview Key Terms

Too often student research projects fail because of hypothesis – a testable statement, with a cause and an
lack of preparation and feedback before the data effect. Often stated in If…Then form
collection begins. In this lesson, students will develop variables – changeable factors that might affect the
or refine a scientific question about their animal. outcome of an experiment and/or impact an animal’s
Students will generate a hypothesis to answer the behavior
question and choose a sampling method to help them materials – a list of supplies needed in order to complete
test the hypothesis. Then they will write a research an experiment
proposal that outlines the scientific framework for their procedures – a step-by-step list of what will occur during
research project. an experiment; very specific
data – information gathered during an experiment,
Student Objectives could be qualitative or quantitative
qualitative – data that is sensory in nature,
At the end of this activity, students will be able to: descriptive, whether the animal was red or white,
whether the call was loud or soft; data not based on
1 ask a scientific question about their selected species. numerical measurements
2 write a testable hypothesis related to their question. quantitative – data that is numerical in nature,
3 choose a sampling method appropriate to their numbers of occurrences, time a behavior lasts,
testing. number of animals performing the behavior; data is
based on numerical measurements

Timeline

3 hours in class, 1 week outside of class

Materials

— Pre-Proposal Assignment sheet

— Research Proposal writing assignment

Group Size

Group and individual work

68
 4.8 RESEARCH PROPOSAL

Procedure Teacher Tips

1 Ask students to use the Pre-Proposal Assignment to • You may want to fill out a Proposal sheet as a class so
organize their thinking about their study species. students understand how to go about it. Then you can
let them work independently after they have seen it
2 Have small groups review each others’ sheets. Which modeled.
research questions have they answered? Which ones
are not testable? Of the remaining ones, which ones
would make interesting research questions?

3 The teacher needs to circulate and discuss questions

as they are selected.

4 Once they have selected a question, ask the students

what their next steps are. Guide them to see that to
answer this, they will perform an experiment, and that
a sampling method is merely a way to collect data.
Often students don’t think animal behavior studies are
“real” experiments.

5 Allow time for groups to develop their experiments and

data sheets for their samplings. The teacher needs to
move around and answer questions, provide feedback
and monitor on-task behavior. If students are unclear
about which sampling method to use, tell them they
may need more than one.

6 Let students know when they will conduct their field

research.

7 Students will be assigned to write-up a formal research

proposal for testing a hypothesis during their zoo visit.
You may want to have students turn this in far in
advance of their research trip to the zoo so that you
have time to give more feedback and they have time to
revise their project.

69
 ACTIVITY 4.8 name

PRE-PROPOSAL ASSIGNMENT SHEET

1 List three scientific questions about the zoo species for which you developed an
ethogram from the video, CD or DVD.

2 Choose one of these questions, and explain why it is an interesting scientific question.

3 Clearly state a hypothesis that follows from this question.

4 Explain how you would test whether this hypothesis is supported. What comparisons
would you make or what trends (patterns) would you look for?

5 Explain how you would test whether this hypothesis is false. What comparisons would
you make or what trends would you look for?

6 Describe the sampling technique you will use. How many individuals will you observe?

a What results would support your hypothesis?

b What results would not support your hypothesis?

c What results might be inconclusive (unable to decide)?

70
 ACTIVITY 4.8 name

RESEARCH PROPOSAL WRITING ASSIGNMENT

Write a one to two page proposal explaining the research you

plan to do at the zoo. Begin with some background
information about your study species. Next explain the
research question and why it is of interest. State the
hypothesis you propose to test that will help you answer this
question. Next, discuss how you will test your
hypothesis, what data will you collect, and how you
will decide whether the data supports or refutes your
hypothesis. Include a sample data sheet.

71
 ACTIVITY 4.8 name

ALTERNATIVE PROPOSAL FORM

Animal Behavior Experiment Proposal

Group Roles
Species to observe: ___________________________________ • Leader_________________________________________

Sampling method proposed: ___________________________ • Materials_______________________________________

Question: ___________________________________________ • Timekeeper_____________________________________

___________________________________________________ • Chief Support ___________________________________

___________________________________________________

Hypothesis: ________________________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Procedure: Explain how you will setup and perform your experiment.

What is the independent variable in your experiment?

What is the dependent variable?

Design a data table to record your results.

What will you need to complete your experiment?

How long will your experiment take to complete?

72
 4.9 FIELD STUDY RESEARCH:
C O L L E C T I N G B E H AV I O R A L D ATA

Lesson Overview 2 Have students gather all of their materials: data sheets,
clipboards, map of zoo, clipboards, stop watches,
Students will visit the zoo to observe their selected colored pencils for sketching physical characteristics.
species and collect the data to attempt to answer their
research question. 3 Have all permission slips signed.

Student Objectives At the zoo:

While observing their study species at the zoo, students 4 Direct students to observe their animals and
will be able to: collect data.

1 collect behavioral data. 5 Remind them to do several trials during their visit.
2 record information from zoo signage.
3 sketch physical characteristics and the habitat of 6 Remind them that each student must collect data.
their selected species.
4 determine which variables might affect the behavior 7 Encourage them to record information about their
of their selected species. species from any signs around the exhibit.

Timeline 8 Have students sketch the physical characteristics

of their animal, as well as the habitat displayed in
3 - 4 hours the exhibit.

Materials 9 Afterwards, ask them if there are any variables that

could have affected their outcome. Have them record
— clipboards those variables.
— stopwatches
— data sheets
— colored pencils

Procedure Teacher Tips

Before the visit: • Organize your observational areas at the zoo — think
about proximity — then group students accordingly.
1 Students should have completed a research proposal
and it should have been approved by the teacher. • Help groups of students to assign jobs in their groups to
facilitate data collection (ie: timer, tallier, observer,
caller). Practice these jobs before going to the zoo.

73
4.10 A N A LY S I S O F R E S U LT S A N D
WRITE UP OF RESEARCH PROJECT

Lesson Overview
Alternative Project Ideas
Students will synthesize the skills and information they
learned in this unit by writing up a report of their zoo • Written research paper
research project. • Oral research presentation
• Visual research presentation (poster – science fair
Student Objectives structure)
• Technology research presentation (Hyperstudio,
After completing this activity, students will be able to: Power Point)

1 analyze data they collected.

2 evaluate whether the data support or refute their
hypotheses.
3 organize and present findings from a research Teacher Tips
project they conducted.
• Help kids see where they have been and where they
Timeline are going in this project. Help them tie their question
to their data.
One week outside of class
• Refer back to Jim’s Crickets for data analysis.
Procedure
• Discuss graph options and what each kind of graph is
Have students write a report of their zoo research using used for.
the following assignment sheet.
• Discuss what to do if your data doesn’t support your
question.

• Discuss experiment reliability (Is it repeatable from

your write up?) and validity (Is it controlled?)

• Provide a template for students that need more

scaffolding.

74
 ACTIVITY 4.10 name

ZOO RESEARCH PROJECT FINAL REPORT ASSIGNMENT

Your final research report should contain the following elements:

1 Cover page: Descriptive title including the 4 Results: Present your results in a table or
name of the study species, a picture of the graph. Explain in a paragraph or two what you
study species, your same. found that is relevant to testing your hypothesis
and answering your original question. Your
2 Introduction: Background information on ethogram is not a result; it is a tool you used in
your study species (e.g. where doesit live?, order to get to this point.
what does it eat?, is it endangered?), What is
the zoo habitat it lives in? Why is it interesting 5 Discussion: Explain how your results are
to you? What is your research question? What is relevant to your original question. Why are they
the hypothesis you tested? interesting? What can you now conclude? What
did you learn or observe that wasn’t related to
3 Methods: Where did you observe your species, your question?
how many individualsdid you observe, how
long did youobserve them? What sampling 6 References: information that you included in
method did you use? Number of observations this report that you learned from books,
you made? How long were your observations? magazines, websites, etc., must be referenced.
What were the weather or other conditions that If you do not cite where you learned the
could have affected your observations? (This information, you can be accused off plagiarism.
section builds reliability.)

75
4.10 A N A LY S I S O F R E S U LT S A N D W R I T E U P O F R E S E A R C H P R O J E C T

RESEARCH PROJECT SCORING GUIDE

NAME: __________________________________________________________ Grade: ______________________

Date: ________________________ Organism: ______________________________________________________

Group: _______________________________________________________________________________________

PROJECT PART BEGINNING DEVELOPING ACCOMPLISHED EXEMPLARY

COVER Incomplete Name, date Name, date, common Picture, color detail
and scientific name plus items in
accomplished
category

1 Not included Included Completely Completed in ink,

OBSERVATION but incomplete filled out, includes inference and
FROM ZOO inference and question are
question thoughtful

2 Less than half 5-7 required parts All 8 parts included; All described in
LIBRARY included, no included, sparse paragraph format detail; related but not
RESEARCH references references, used, references required information
incomplete included included

3 Included but Included but not Ethogram fits Well constructed,

DEVELOPED incomplete or well connected or question asked, thoughtful question,
ETHOGRAM unrelated; no constructed, question included, observational data
definitions definitions incomplete definitions included described in detail

4 Included but not Connected but not Connected to Both written and
DATA COLLECTION connected to well-documented to question, paragraph visual analysis
ANALYSIS AND question and/or question using data format used, data included; well
CONCLUSION incomplete from ethogram; supports conclusion; connected to
some variables not variables mentioned question and possible
controlled; methods reliable and valid variables; insightful
unclear experiment observations made

Word processed or
NEATNESS All in pencil, In ink but sloppy, Neatly done in ink, neatly done in ink;
sloppy, unedited smeary and/or parts in order listed, bound or organized,
unorganized mostly edited well edited, visuals
included

ON TIME 1 week or more late 2 days late 1 day late On time

Comments: _____________________________________________________________________________________
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4.10 A N A LY S I S O F R E S U LT S A N D W R I T E U P O F R E S E A R C H P R O J E C T

SCORING GUIDE FOR EXPERIMENTS USING THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD

A LT E R N AT I V E S C O R I N G G U I D E : G R O U P M E T H O D
Research Conclusive: answer contains an Partially conclusive: answer Inconclusive: answer indicates
exceptional amount of prior contains a reasonable amount lack of prior knowledge
knowledge of prior knowledge 1 point does not meet
3 points exceeds 2 points meets

Hypothesis Correctly stated with both No hypothesis

variables identified 1 point does not meet
3 points exceeds/meets

Variables All variables are identified and All variables are stated correctly One of the variables is missing
explained well 2 points meets or incorrectly stated
3 points exceeds 1 point does not meet

Procedure Easily followed containing all Written, but some steps are Procedure missing two or more
procedural steps in their correct vague or unclear. Metric units critical steps; metric units
order. Metric units are used are used not used
where necessary 2 points meets 1 point does not meet
3 points exceeds

Chart of Data Neat, complete and correctly Complete, but lacking a clearly Incomplete, lacking any of the
(raw data) labeled explanatory title and/or labeling following: a title, dependent or
3 points exceeds 2 points meets independent variable, or
collected data
1 point does not meet

Graph of Results Neat, complete and correctly Complete, but lacking a clearly Incomplete, lacking any of the
labeled explanatory title and/or labeling following: a title, dependent or
3 points exceeds 2 points meets independent variable, or
collected data
1 point does not meet

Observations Thoughtful, very descriptive using Partially conclusive using some Inconclusive demonstrating
a variety new vocabulary terms new vocabulary terms limited vocabulary terms
3 points exceeds 2 points meets 1 point does not meet

Conclusions, Inferences Tells whether hypothesis was Provides sufficient information Provides insufficient information
proven correct or incorrect by for any two of the following – for two or all of the following –
providing sufficient information conclusion, inferences, conclusion, inferences,
for all of the following – recommendations recommendations
conclusion (a statement of 2 points meets 1 point does not meet
the results), inferences
(assumptions that can be drawn
form the conclusion) and
recommendations for the design
of an experiment
3 points exceeds

Teacher Observations Student performed experiment Student performed experiment Student did not perform the
honestly, accurately, and honestly and accurately, but experiment honestly and/or
independently needed teacher assistance accurately
3 points exceeds 2 points meets 1 point does not meet

Overall Rating Exceeds = 25 – 27 points Meets = 18 – 24 points Does not meet = Below 18 points

77
 4.11 R E F L E C T I O N / E VA L U AT I O N

Lesson Overview Procedure

Students have the opportunity to reflect over their 1 Have students share their projects with each other. This
conclusions and what they have learned during this could be for the whole class or in like-species groups.
project. This could also include students evaluating their
peers’ presentations. 2 Ask students to record questions, comments and
compliments about their peers’ projects.
Student Objectives
3 Allow time for students to comment after each
After completing this activity, students will be able to: presentation.

1 answer reflective questions on various aspects of 4 Hand out Student Self Reflection.
research they conducted.
2 compare and contrast their prior knowledge of animal 5 Ask the students to demonstrate what they have
behavior research with their post-research knowledge. learned by answering the questions as completely as
they can. Encourage them to use specific examples
Timeline from their research.

1 class period 6 Have the students compare what they knew when
first started doing animal observations and what they
know now. Have their knowledge and understanding
increased?

78
 ACTIVITY 4.11 name

STUDENT SELF-REFLECTION

1 What causes behavior?

2 How do scientists measure, test, or explain behavior?

3 How certain do you feel that the conclusion you reached regarding behavior of
your animal is accurate? Why?

4 Is your research project repeatable by any other scientists, just from using your
report? Why or why not?

5 What did you see in other projects that you would add to your own? Why?

79
4.12 F U R T H E R I N V E S T I G AT I O N S

Lesson Overview • How well can your students apply their ethogram skills
to other species? Show the monkey and/or baboon tape
Students or teachers may choose to continue with this from the first lesson again. This time, ask the students
topic in a variety of extension activities. to write a question, make a hypothesis and create an
appropriate ethogram for the animal. Then show it
Student Objectives again and let them collect their data. Have them write a
conclusion. This could serve as a final exam.
Students will continue to expand their knowledge
of behavioral studies by completing a deeper • Use your new found knowledge to do a behavioral study
investigation. of an animal close to home. Study a classroom pet
(hamsters, fish, lizards), or one from your school yard
Timeline (birds, squirrels, rolypolys, worms, ants) or one from a
nearby park. You could even study other students in
Varies. Based on the project chosen. your school. Try to solve a problem that currently exists
that is behavioral in nature. Use the same process.
Procedure
• Justify a behavior change in your school or community
1 Either give the students choices to select from, ask (service project) by collecting human behavior data.
them to brainstorm topics of interest, or select one of Examples: recycling issues, SUV usage, test out a
your choice to proceed with. proverb or saying you’ve heard.

2 Suggested extensions include: • Share what you have learned with other experts. Invite
zoo personnel to your school, or go there, and share
• Just as the zoo provided you with a video on your your findings. If you do a study of your school, school
species, produce your own video/hyperstudio on your ground or local park, invite concerned parties to your
species, or one of your choosing. Will yours be used to presentations. Use this scientific methodology to solve a
practice ethogram techniques? Or will it be like a problem that affects all citizens.
National Geographic Explorer Report? If no technology
is available, create a written natural history of zoo Make your own extension! Be creative!
species like the ones in this unit. If each student
creates one, you might have the whole zoo covered!

• Did your project raise more questions about your

animal’s behavior, or about a similar animal? If so, use
your scientific question to develop a science fair project.
Submit it to your school or community’s science fair!

80
SECTION 5

APPENDICES

81
5.1 CARE TIPS FOR CLASSROOM ANIMALS

CRICKETS IN THE CLASSROOM Housing

Field crickets are excellent subjects for studying behavior in Males will defend a burrow against other males. If you
the classroom because they have a wide repertoire of social house your crickets in an aquarium, give each male a
behaviors. However, in order to see these behaviors we need small burrow to defend. (A toilet paper tube cut in
to observe the right crickets in the right environment. half and then lengthwise, or a large tampon tube, will
work well.) Males will behave differently in class
Age depending on their experience before class. Males
who are housed together will behave very differently
Many pet stores sell large and small crickets, but size than males who are isolated until class. Isolated males
does not guarantee maturity. Juveniles will not engage will scramble to find and then defend the new burrows.
in territorial, courtship, or oviposition behaviors.
Juveniles, even large juveniles, do not have wings; they Females will lay eggs in moist (not soaking wet) sand or
merely have wing buds or pads. Adults have dark hard loose soil. A petri dish can make a suitable oviposition
forewings that the males use to produce their songs. site. If a female is kept away from oviposition sites
Comparisons between juveniles and adults would be before class, she is more likely to have eggs to lay
an interesting project if you have enough crickets of during class. She will probe the soil with the ovipositor
both age categories. and deposit eggs if the humidity is appropriate. A
female isolated from males before class is also more
Sex likely to respond to his courtship song during class.

Males and females behave very differently. Males are Distractions

territorial and will sing to attract females. Males are
distinct in having thick veins in their forewings, which Crickets are more likely to sing at night (hence the
produce their song when wings are moved past each sound we associate with camping in the woods) but will
other. Females are most easily distinguished by their sing and behave during the daytime. Try to keep the
ovipositors. This long thin organ extends from the tip of lights a bit dim and be very careful to avoid bumping the
the abdomen and is lowered into the soil where eggs table that the animal container is on. Crickets have their
are deposited after the female copulates. acoustic organs (ears) on their forelegs and therefore
pick up vibrations from the surface they are standing on.

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5.1 CARE TIPS FOR CLASSROOM ANIMALS

DO’S AND DONT’S

FOR MICE IN THE CLASSROOM

DO keep your mice clean. Your mouse cage should

be cleaned at least once a week. Be guided by your
nose. If you smell ammonia around the cage area, then
the time to change the bedding is past due. Put the
mice in a secure place, dump out the old bedding, wipe
out the bottom with a little soap and water, dry out
the cage, add fresh bedding, food, water and mice.

DO handle the mice yourself, DON’T delegate this

responsibility to members of the class. The mice will
respond by being much calmer when handled
regularly by the same person. Having you the teacher
handle and care for the mice is a requirement and
has the added benefit of reducing escapes and
nipped fingers.

DO keep your mice warm but not hot.

DON’T place in direct sunlight or in drafts from open

windows and air conditioners.

DO keep your mice dry. Sometimes water bottles leak

and flood the cage. Check your water bottle every day.

DO provide your mice with fresh drinking water. Water

bottles should be filled with fresh water twice weekly
and washed with a mild soap once a week.

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5.1 CARE TIPS FOR CLASSROOM ANIMALS

DO make sure your mice have plenty of nutritious food. DON’T use your mice as experimental subjects and
The Rodent Lab Chow provided has everything offer them objects that might be potentially harmful.
necessary to raise healthy litters of mice. Seeds and
other treats should be used sparingly for observations DO let your mice breed. Raising a litter of mouse pups
of food preferences and foraging behaviors. is a fascinating experience for the class. Mice have a
gestation period of 20-21 days. Try to clean the cage a
DON’T let the class decide what to feed the mice. Some few days before the expected birth and then not again
of their suggestions might be very good such as treats for about a week after the female delivers. Most mice
of seeds, fresh vegetables and fruits, but others might choose a corner of the cage for urination. You should
be harmful to the mice in the long run. Some foods clean these “wet spots” every 3-4 days to keep odors
might be preferred by the mice but be nutritionally under control. You may safely move the litter when they
incomplete. are seven to ten days old for a more thorough cleaning.

DON’T trust the mice to eat what is best for them. DO remove the male and house him separately if you
don’t want another litter right away. The female will be
DO use the filter material provided for the top of the receptive to the male immediately after giving birth. If the
cage. This material, when attached to the cage, acts as male remains, you’ll have another litter in about 3 weeks.
a two way barrier by keeping unwanted objects out of
the cage and keeping dust and animal dander’s out of DO be careful when cleaning a cage containing young
your classroom. mice of about 3 weeks. They are very excitable and
have amazing jumping abilities.
DO use your mice as a resource and observational tool
for classroom discussion. Your class can learn a lot DON’T allow the cage to become overcrowded.
about animal behavior by keeping a daily log of the Overcrowding will be stressful to the mice and cause
activities and behaviors shown by individual mice. aggression. A pecking order will be established by
fighting among the mice and the losers could
DO use the collected information from your class to be severely injured. Overcrowding might also result in
prepare an ethogram of mouse behavior. cannibalism of new litters.

DO limit the number of children observing the mice at DON’T send the surplus mice home with members of
one time. Small groups of 3-4 work well. your class. Once out of the classroom you can’t control
what happens to the animals and their welfare may
DON’T allow children to tap on the cage to make the be at stake.
mice active. Varying the time of day for observations
should expose the class to a range of behaviors. DO bring surplus animals back to the university. We will
gladly take back progeny and parents when your
DO use the mice for simple experiments that give the projects are finished. If you have mice from another
mice a choice, such as; do they prefer cotton or kleenex source, like a pet shop, ask if you can give them your
for their nest? do they prefer to build a nest in the open surplus mice.
or in a tube from a toilet paper roll?

84
5.2 SAMPLE EXAMS

DIAGNOSTIC EXAM A

Ellie has been observing the mice in her classroom for

months. Last semester, Ellie noticed that the mice play with
each other like kittens or puppies. Ellie wondered why mice
play. Her friend David suggests that it is good exercise for the
mice and helps keep them fit. However Ellie has heard
that human play is an important part of learning how to
behave as an adult, and thinks that mice could play for
the same reason.

The adult female mouse in Ellie’s class is pregnant again and

Ellie wants to study the pups for her behavior research
project. Ellie thinks that the pups will behave differently than
the older mice since they are still learning how to behave.
Ellie has convinced her classmates to help her collect data
on the new mice but she has to organize her ideas and
organize the data collection so that it can be used to test
her hypothesis.

1 Clearly state Ellie’s research question. 6 Since the observers cannot watch every animal, all of
the time, explain how they can make their observations
2 Clearly state Ellie’s hypothesis. so that they get the fairest test of their hypothesis?

3 What predictions has Ellie made that should be found if 7 Make a data sheet that Ellie’s classmates can use to
her hypothesis is true? collect data for her.

4 Clearly state a prediction that Ellie and her classmates 8 Even before she has the data, we know what kind of
can test by making observations of their class mice over graph will best illustrate Ellie’s results. Draw the axes of
the next month. her graph and label the axes.

5 Ellie’s classmates are going to help her collect data. 9 Fill in what you expect Ellie’s graph to look like if the
How can Ellie help make sure that the observations data supports her hypothesis (in red ink). Draw the
recorded by different people are comparable and can lines you expect to see if the data do not support Ellie’s
be pooled together? hypothesis (in blue ink).

85
5.2 SAMPLE EXAMS

KEY EXAM A

1 Why do mice play?

2 Mice play in order to better learn how to behave as adults.

3 Pups will behave differently than adults.

4 Pups will spend more of their time playing than adults. Or, pups will play less as they become adults.

5 Ellie can define what play looks like or teach her classmates what different behaviors look like so they
all call the same behavior the same thing.

6 They can watch each animal for the same amount of time each day.

7
Animal’s Name Minutes observed playing Minutes observed not playing
Mother
Father
Pup 1
Pup 2
Pup 3

8 and 9 Average time spent playing

or

adults pups age

86
5.2 SAMPLE EXAMS

DIAGNOSTIC EXAM B

David loves gray tree squirrels. He always has a bag of

peanuts in the pocket of his parka so that he can feed the
squirrels that he meets walking to or from school. He noticed
that some squirrels are very calm when they take his
peanuts and even sit next to him to eat the nuts. Others
seem very nervous and run away as soon as they get a nut.
David is curious why the squirrels behave so differently. His
friend Ellie suggests that the girl squirrels are larger and
braver and that the boy squirrels are the small, scared ones.
However, David is pretty sure that the same squirrels are
calm sometimes and nervous other times.

David has noticed that as soon as a dog comes in sight all 5 David’s classmates are going to help him collect data.
the squirrels run up the nearest tree. He thinks that the How can David help make sure that the observations
squirrels might feel more secure when he is feeding them recorded by different people are comparable and can
near a tree. He has convinced his friends to help him collect be pooled together?
data to test his hypothesis. They agree to meet at Oak Knoll
Park on the following Sunday afternoon. 6 Since the observers cannot watch every animal all of
the time explain how they can make their observations
so that they get the fairest test of their hypothesis.
1 Clearly state David’s research question.
7 Make a data sheet that David’s classmates can use to
2 Clearly state David’s hypothesis. collect data for him.

3 What predictions can David make that should be found 8 Even before he has the data, we know what kind of
IF his hypothesis is true? graph will best illustrate David’s results. Draw the axes
of his graph and label the axes.
4 Clearly state one prediction that David and his
classmates can test by making observations in Oak 9 Fill in what you expect David’s graph to look like if the
Knoll Park on a Sunday afternoon. data supports his hypothesis (in red ink). Draw the
lines you expect to see if the data do not support
David’s hypothesis (in blue ink).

87
5.2 SAMPLE EXAMS

KEY EXAM B 8 and 9 Minutes spent taking and eating peanuts before
moving back to a tree.
1 Why are the squirrels sometimes calm and other times
nervous when they take his peanuts?

2 Squirrels feel safer when they are near a tree.

3 Squirrels will act more nervous and run away faster if

they are far from a tree. Distance to Nearest Tree

4 The farther you are from a tree, the more quickly a

squirrel will take your peanut and run away.

5 David can define what he means by “run away”, “walk

around”, “beg for more” and other behaviors his friends
are likely to see. He can also make sure they offer the
same kind of peanuts and offer them in the same way.

6 They can test each squirrel at different distances from

the nearest tree. Or they can test each squirrel only once
but test different squirrels at different distances from the
nearest tree.

7
Animal’s name Distance to Time squirrel Time squirrel moves Total minutes spent taking and eating
or number nearest tree takes peanut back to tree peanuts before moving back to a tree.

If one animal is tested at different distances, then

column 1 can be omitted and each friend gets a data
sheet for each animal.

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STUDENT SAMPLE

S A M P L E O F A S T U D E N T R E P O RT

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90
STUDENT SAMPLE

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98
 animal WHYS
Stan Braude, an animal behavior
researcher at Washington University,
has identified previously unknown
behaviors of the naked mole-rat.
? WHAT IS
BEHAVIOR?
he study of animal behavior is the

T scientific study of everything that

animals do. Animals may be single-celled

Why Do Scientists Study Behavior? organisms, invertebrates, fish, amphibians,

reptiles, birds, humans, or other mammals.

S cientists have long studied animal behavior in order to better understand them. From
anthropologists studying humans, to biologists observing animals in the wild, to
zoologists trying to help animals in captivity to survive, behavior is a source of knowledge
Animal behavior involves the investigation of
the relationship of animals to their physical
environment as well as to other organisms. It
and evidence to scientists. includes topics such as how animals find
and defend resources, avoid predators,
Zoos allow us to observe animals at a much closer level, just as class pets do in a classroom. choose mates and reproduce, and care for
By gaining this understanding of animals in captivity, scientists can then look for those their young.
behaviors in the wild, testing out theories and answering questions about the organisms.
People who study animal behavior are
Additionally, studying animal behavior helps scientists to predict how human actions will typically trying to answer one or more of the
affect animals and their environment in the future. Both are dependent on humans for following four kinds of questions about
their continued existence. Humans have a responsibility to study animal behavior to behavior. These questions are often referred
determine the needs of the animal kingdom and to determine when certain species are to as Tinbergen’s four questions after the
being threatened. Human survival, as well as animal survival, depends on healthy animal behaviorist Niko Tinbergen, who first
populations of diverse species. described them (see below).

Tinbergen’s Four Questions about Animal Behavior

1 What is the cause of the behavior? 2 How did the behavior develop 3 What function or functions does the 4 How did the behavior evolve
What mechanism is underlying it? within the individual’s lifetime? behavior serve? over time?
What “triggered” it just now?
Helps scientists learn how behavior Helps determine the behavior’s Helps determine the origins of
Answers may include both the changes over the lifetime of the ani- effect on the animal and its value in behavior patterns and how these
external stimuli that affect behavior, mal, and how these changes are helping the animal to survive or change over generations.
and the internal hormonal and affected by both genes and experi- reproduce successfully in a particu-
neural mechanisms that control ence. lar environment.
behavior.
from [Link]

99
 BEHAVIORAL
RESEARCH
Saint Louis
at the
ZOO
ZOO STUDY
he Saint Louis Zoo applies animal
T behavior research in its conservation
efforts both at the zoo and in the field.
MOTHER / INFANT ANTELOPE

The zoo’s efforts to breed threatened

The zoo is developing a profile of typical behavior of mother and
and endangered animal species is
infant pairs of antelopes during the first 30 days after birth. It will
enhanced where knowledge of specific,
be used as a baseline comparison of the species. The study
interactive behaviors and animal
evaluates the behavioral interactions of the mother and infant that
physiology is known. Here are brief
are likely to be related to successful bonding and care. They include,
descriptions of three studies being
for the most part, measures of proximity, grooming and ursing.
conducted at or by the Saint Louis Zoo.
For more information about these or
In the wild, young hoofstock can be categorized either as
other studies, visit at the Saint Louis Zoo
“hiders” or “followers,” depending on the species’ survival
online at [Link].
strategy. Forest antelope species are known to hide their young
in the brush and return to nurse at very infrequent intervals
(sometimes as little as three times in a 24-hour period),
reducing the chance they are bringing the fawn to a predator’s
attention. In contrast, species from open grasslands give birth
to precocial young that are able to ”follow” their mothers.
Consequently, these young nurse much more frequently.

In the zoo’s commitment to leave infants with their mothers

whenever possible, it is in their best interest to understand what
is normal nursing behavior for each captive species. Knowing,
for example, that an individual species is a “hider,” animal care
staff will not be alarmed if they do not see a mother nursing her
young constantly.

Data for this study is collected via 24-hour video filming of the
exhibit, then tabulated by computer.

100
 ZOO STUDY MEXICAN WOLF

Saint Louis Zoo researchers are conducting studies at Washington University’s Tyson
Research Center to increase the numbers of the endangered Mexican wolves. Scientists
have a strong interest in understanding the behaviors related to reproduction
in order to support breeding efforts at the Wolf Sanctuary.

Researchers count the occurrence and duration of behaviors on a clipboard

and simple data sheet.

CAREERS IN
animal behavior
ZOO STUDY BLYTH’S HORNBILL
hese careers require a doctor
T of philosophy (Ph.D.) or doctor
of veterinary medicine (D.V.M.)
Previous zoo studies have focused on the degree.
great Indian hornbill. The zoo is satisfied with • Animal psychologist
the results of this species’ breeding efforts. • College professor/researcher in
More recently, the zoo began looking at biology, zoology, psychology,
another hornbill species whose reproductive others
habits are quite similar — the Blyth’s • Conservation field researcher
hornbill. In fully understanding the intricate • Health researcher
behaviors and rituals of these birds, we can • Research assistant
better provide the environment for their • Veterinarian
breeding success. We can also help other zoos • Zoo curator or researcher
and in situ (in the country of origin) • Zoo director
conservation efforts find similar success.
hese careers require at least
The reproductive behaviors of hornbills are
fascinating. They are housed in mating
T a bachelor’s degree, and
probably a master’s degree.
pairs, since these birds are among those • Animal care facility manager
who will form monogamous pair bonds. • Animal caretaker
Females “interview” potential mates by mimicking the behaviors they will use during • Animal control officer
nesting. A male will appropriately respond by exhibiting food-giving behavior, proving that • Animal caretaker
he will care for the female when she walls herself into a log/tree cavity, leaving only a • Companion animal trainer
small opening through which she will receive food and carefully excrete her waste. During • Veterinary assistant
this time she will lay her eggs, incubate and hatch them. She will emerge when the chicks • Zoo educator
are ready to fledge. • Zookeeper
from [Link]
Researchers collect data on a laptop computer. AB_Careers/animal_behavior_careers.html.

101
 What is an ETHOGRAM?
AN ETHOGRAM IS A DESCRIPTIVE
Q
LIST OF ALL BEHAVIORS OF A

A PARTICULAR SPECIES.

Ethograms are essential tools for

scientists and students who want
to study animal behavior and
In order to be a useful scientific tool for
studying behavior, an ethogram must be
unambiguous in distinguishing different
communicate their results to others. A behaviors. Descriptions of behaviors
complete ethogram describes the social must be clear and complete. Data
or environmental setting for each shown in graphs and tables helps
behavior, includes information about others understand it better. Ethograms
the timing and frequency of the can also contain pictures, or drawings
behaviors, and organizes the behaviors of the animal to help the reader
into functional categories. understand exactly what behavior is
being described.
When we suggest a function for a
behavior, we are making an implicit
hypothesis that may require further
observation to verify. The name we
assign to a behavior can also imply a
function for that behavior. For example
the same body posture can be labeled
“lying down” and “resting.” “Lying down”
only describes what the animal is doing;
“resting” implies why the animal is doing
it. In fact many animals lie down for
reasons other than rest. Social animals
may lie down as a sign of submission
and predators or prey may lie down to
hide from each other.

102
 CATEGORIES OF BEHAVIOR
Eating
Elimnative
Care-Giving
Communicative
Care-Soliciting
Maintenance
Shelter-Seeking
Territorial
Exploratory
Aggression
Sexual
Density-dependent

STEPS IN ETHOGRAM DEVELOPMENT

BEHAVIOR SAMPLING TOOLS Social
Hibernation/Migration
Time budget: Environmental
a record of how an
organism spends its time

Tally:
record data by making 1 List behaviors and name
hashmarks, indicates individual behaviors.
numbers or counts.
2 Organize behaviors into
Scan sampling:
functional categories (feeding,
collecting data at specified
resting, traveling, etc.).
time intervals, either on
focal animal or group.
3 Describe each behavior
Focal sampling: (including pictures and
collecting data focusing diagrams).
on one individual animal
at a time. 4 Tally frequency of behaviors
and calculate the time budget.
All occurrences sampling:
recording each time a 5 Give context of behavior
behavior is performed, either (social or environmental).
on a focal animal or among
all animals present.

103
QUESTIONS TO FOCUS OBSERVATIONS
feeding agonistic behavior
• Are food and water ingested differently? • Are there agonistic vocalizations and
• Is food transported or stored? postures?
• Are different foods handled differently? • Do animals of different ages respond to
aggression differently?
eliminating waste • How do the animals defend themselves
• Are there special postures associated with from aggression?
elimination?
• Are certain locations chosen for elimination? sexual behavior
• Are feces consumed? By whom? • How do males and females behave
differently during courtship?
care giving • What environmental circumstances are
• What communicative behaviors are associated with courtship behaviors?
associated with care giving? • What behaviors are associated with sexual
• Which care giving behaviors are associated maturity in each sex?
with different types of individuals? • What behaviors proceed or follow mating?

care soliciting communication

• What communicative behaviors are • What visual, auditory, tactile or chemical
associated with care giving? signals does your species use?
• Which care giving behaviors are associated • Are some signals used together?
with different types of individuals? • Are some signals used exclusively by
animals of certain ages or one sex?
grooming • Are there signals used only within your
• Do individuals groom at certain times or in species? Are there signals used for
certain situations? interspecific communication?
• Do individuals groom each other?
• Are different parasites removed with social
specific behaviors? • Is the species social or do animals live alone?
• What types of animals normally make up
nesting a group?
• When do animals enter their nest? • How large are typical groups?
• What behaviors are associated with • Do animals behave differently depending
constructing the nest? on the size of the group?
• What behaviors are associated with
cleaning the nest? seasonal
• Are nests defended or abandoned in the • Do animals respond to changing climate by
face of danger? hibernating, migrating or other modification
of behavior?
exploratory behavior • What triggers these changes?
• How do animals respond to new objects? • How do migrants navigate?
• How do animals of different ages respond
to new situations or places?
• How do animals find their way home or
navigate in their neighborhood?
104
 a sample ethogram: DOMESTIC DOG
resting behaviors social behaviors/humans
Rest: lying down with eyes open or closed Amicable human: lick, paw, allogroom
Sit: sit on hind legs human, often with tail wag
Stand: stand on four legs Threat human: snarl, raise hackles
to human
locomotive behaviors Attack human: bite, snap or chase human
Walk: ambulatory gait Defensive human: evade human, cower,
Trot: trotting gait roll over
Run: running gait Competitive human: defend object or food
Hind legs: standing on hind legs using from human
forelegs against a wall to support the body Sniff human: nose to any area of human
Circle: repetitive circling around pen Solicit play human: bow, metaplay
Tail chase: repetitive chasing of tail with human
Pace: repetitive pacing usually along a fence Play human: bouncing gait, play face,
Social pace: repetitive pacing along fence wrestle, play chase
with a dog on the other side Pat dog: human pat dog
Jump: repetitive jumping so that hind legs
leave the ground vocal behaviors
Wall bounce: repetitive jumping at wall, Bark: staccato vocalizations
rebounding off it Howl: long drawn out vocalizations
Flank suck: repetitive and prolonged Bark at passers: recorded where object of
auto-grooming of flank barking could be seen

social behaviors/dogs solitary behaviors

Contact dog: lying in contact with dog Autogroom: lick, pull at body/pelage
Amicable dog: lick, paw or allogroom dog Dig: dig at ground with forepaws
often with tail wag Urinate squat: urinate in squatting position
Threat dog: snarl, raise hackles to dog Urinate raised leg: urinate with one leg
Attack dog: bite, snap, or chase dog often cocked
with aggressive vocalizations Kick ground: scratching ground usually
Defensive dog: Evade dog, cower, roll over, following urination or defecation
lick face Sniff ground: Nose to ground
Competitive dog: defend object or food Eat: eating food
from dog Drink: drinking
Sniff dog: nose to any area of another dog Coprophagy: eat own or other dog’s feces
Solicit play dog: bow, short charges with Chew: chew nonnutritive material
bouncing gait, often barking Eat grass: eating grass
T-dog: muzzle placed across neck of Mouth toy: chew toy
another dog
from Serpell, J. (ed.). The Domestic Dog: its evolution, behavior, and
Mount dog: hetero/homosexual mounting of interactions with people. 1995 Cambridge University Press.
another dog
Mounted: focal animal mounted by other dog

105
natural histories
These natural histories give a general overview of each
animal’s characteristics and behaviors in the wild.

lion-tailed macaque
Macaca silenus
appearance: They are medium-sized monkeys with stout bodies and strong
limbs. They have a ruff of long grayish hair on each side of the face.

size: 764 mm in head and body length. Weight average is 18 kg; males are
generally 50 percent heavier than females.

food: wild and cultivated fruits, berries, grains, leaves, buds, seeds, flowers, bark,
fungi, insects, lizards, tree-frogs, snails, giant squirrel babies

range: Western Ghats Mountains, India

habitat and basic behavior: While some monkeys can live in urban areas, the
lion-tailed macaque is a true rain-forest dweller and is unable to adapt to cities. All
macaques are primarily diurnal, and all have an arboreal capability, but most species
come down from the trees at least on occasion to forage or move over long distances.
The lion-tailed macaque spends less than one percent of its time on the ground. They
carefully inspect surroundings for a long time before descending from the trees.

Lion-tails have cheek pouches which they quickly stuff as they forage for food in
dangerous places. They are good swimmers. At night, they huddle in a sleeping
cluster high in the canopy. In captivity, the lion-tailed macaque has been observed
manufacturing and using tools to extract syrup from containers.

Macaques live in social groups of 10-20, including one to three adult males.
Females do not have their first offspring until they are 5 years old and males do not
reach sexual maturity until 8 years old. The species has a low reproductive rate,
which may contribute to its endangered status.

threats: Major threat is habitat loss to hydroelectric power, timber and tea
plantations, and harvesting of firewood and other forest products for human use.
They are also hunted by the Nilgiri hills natives for their skin and meat.

from Ali, Rauf. Lion-Tailed Macaque: Status and Conservation. 1985, Alan R. Liss, Inc. New York
Nowak, R.M. “Walker’s Mammals of the World," 6th ed. John Hopkins Univ. Press, Baltimore, 1999
Singapore Zoological Gardens Docents, 2000, [Link]
106
 goral
Naemorhedus goral

appearance: Goat like mammals, with short, woolly undercoats and long coarse
guard hairs. Vary in color from gray to dark brown to reddish, with white or yellow throat
patches. Both sexes have conical horns, 127-78 mm in length, which curve toward the
rear. Stout, long limbs are well adapted to climbing.

size: Head and body 820-1200 mm, tail 76-203 mm, shoulder height 570-785 mm,
weight 22-35 kg

food: Diet consists of twigs, low shrubs, grass and nuts.

range: Gorals are found across most of the southern slopes of the Himalayas of
northern India, west China, and north to Korea, at elevations of 1,800-2,000 m.

habitat and basic behavior: Gorals tend to rest on sunny rock ledges,
where they are difficult to recognize even in full view. They are found on rugged,
wooded mountains, and seem to prefer the most difficult terrain possible. When
motionless, their color blends with the rocks. They live together in groups of
4-12, but males commonly live alone most of the year. When frightened, gorals emit a
hissing or sneezing sound.

They may spend most of the year within a home range of just a few dozen hectares,
but move a few kilometers to a more favorable wintering areas. They are most active
during early morning and late evening, but on cloudy days roam throughout the day.
After eating in the morning, they usually drink water and then retire to a sunny rock
ledge. They can be difficult to recognize in full view, because their color blends with
the rocks.

Gorals reach sexual maturity at age 3. Gestation lasts 6-8 months. One to two
offspring are born.

threats: Gorals are often hunted for meat and sport, even in protected areas. The
most significant threat to them is severe habitat disturbance and alteration, particularly
in the lower portions of the Himalayas and in northeastern India. However, goral can
survive in areas that have limited disturbance of shrubs and forest cover.

from Shackelton, D. M. (ed.) and the IUCN/SSC Caprinae Specialist Group. ”Wild Sheep and Goats and Their Relatives. Status Survey
and Conservation Action Plan for Caprinae." IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK, 1997. Nowak, R.M. “Walker’s Mammals
of the World," (6th ed.), John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, 1999.
Mochi, U. and T.D. Carter. “Hoofed Mammals of the World."
Singapore Zoological Gardens Docents, 2000, [Link]
107
 ring-tailed lemur
Lemur catta

appearance: Monkeys with long Lemurs have been considered as

pointed muzzles, large eyes, and territorial, however, territories overlap
triangular ears. Upper parts are brownish considerably. Lemurs vigorously defend
gray, underparts are whitish, tail ringed areas being used. Disputes generally
with black and white. Palms and soles are involve two opposing groups of females
long, smooth and leatherlike. running at each other and vocalizing, but
direct contact is rare. Researchers have
size: Head and body length 385-455 identified 15 different vocalizations,
mm, tail length 560-624 mm, weight including a howl audible to humans at
2.3-3.5 kg. 1,000 meters. Mating occurs in spring
and births in late summer to fall. Births
food: fruits, leaves, other plant parts; often occur within a period of days in a
rarely insects. The kiley tree is the troop. Single young are most common,
mainstay of their diet. but twins are not rare. Weight at birth is
50-80 grams. During the first two weeks of
range: southwestern Madagascar, in life, the young cling to the mother’s
wooded and thinly wooded country underside, then rides on her back.
Females generally conceive at 19-20
habitat and basic behavior: months. Males are sexually mature at age
Found only in Madagascar, lemurs are 2.5, but may not be allowed to mate by
among the most diverse primate faunas older males.
on earth, and highly unusual. They live in
large family groups called troops, threats: Madagascar is one of the
consisting of 5-30 lemurs. The troops world’s most threatened biodiversity
forage for food throughout the day, and “hotspots,” with 80 percent of its forests
can be active at night, as well. already gone and most of what remains
at great risk. The ring-tailed lemur is the
Troops have no consistent leadership, only surviving semi-terrestrial diurnal
and feature much agonistic behavior and lemur. Its preferred habitats, of forests
fighting. The sexes have separate along rivers, are disappearing because of
dominance hierarchies, with females fires, overgrazing, and cutting trees for
dominating the males. The troops are charcoal. Hunting for pets and zoos is
organized around a core group of adult also a threat.
females and their infants. Females
remain in the troop of their birth, but
from Mittermeier, R.A., I. Tattersall, W.R. Konstant, D.M. Meyers and
males move among the troops. R.B. Mast. Lemurs of Madagascar. Washington D.C., Conservation
International, 1994.
Nowak, R.M. “Walker’s Mammals of the World," (6th ed.), John
Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, 1999.

108
butterflies and moths
Multiple species within order Lepidoptera

note: More than 160,000 species exist within Lepidoptera; students may compare
and contrast two or more species.

appearance: Insects with large, easily distinguishable wings. Among the most
popular and easily recognized insects, butterflies and moths are separated mostly by
observable differences. Most butterflies fly by day and most moths fly at night. Most
butterflies are brightly colored and most moths are dull. Despite these differences and
others, there is no single feature that separates all butterflies from all moths.

size: Range of sizes from very small to wingspans of 180 mm Idea tamb sisiana.

food: generally plants. The Pyralid (Laetilia coccidivora) is carnivorous; in the

caterpillar stage, it eats scale insects and aphids.

range: Butterflies and moths are found around the world.

habitat and basic behavior: Butterflies and moths each go through four
different life stages: egg, caterpillar, pupa, and adult. Life spans vary greatly between
species, from a few weeks or several years. Some of the wood-boring larvae of the
Cossid moths may spend months, or even years, in the caterpillar stage.

Many moths and butterflies have complicated courtship behavior, including

performing elaborate flights and “dances.” They often use chemicals called
pheremones to attract members of the opposite sex. When a male finds a female
who shows interest in him, they both land. The mating pair will often tap each other
with their antennae, detecting other scents. Mating may last for 20 minutes to
several hours, during which time the insects do not move. Most males proceed to
look for other females after mating, but females seek a place to lay their eggs.
Some scatter their eggs, but others seek a food plant for the new caterpillars.
Some butterflies, such as the Orangetip (Anthocharis cardamines), have distinctly
different appearances for males and female. This is known as sexual dimorphism.

Whalley, P. Butterfly and moth. New York: Dorling Kindersley, 2000.

Feltwell, J. The encyclopedia of butterflies. Great Britain: Quarto Publishing, 1993.

109
 river otter
Lutra canadensis

appearance: Mammal with prominent whiskers, medium size eyes, small ears, thick neck and long,
heavy tail. Legs are short with webbed feet. Color is dark brown or black, light brown or gray on belly, and
silvery on face or throat.

size: 90-135 cm with one-third of length consisting of the tail; 4.5-11.5 kg

food: Mostly fish and crayfish, sometimes frogs, salamanders, snails, clams, snakes, turtles, muskrats,
birds, insects, earthworms

range: North American lakes and rivers

habitat and basic behavior: Otters usually live in family groups. They live in burrows in the
banks of rivers or lakes, usually ones that were built earlier by muskrats, beavers or woodchucks. Home
ranges may include 80-160 miles of shoreline. Otters are powerful swimmers that often swim with just the
top of the head and eyes above water. They can swim 10 km/hour on the surface and submerge for up
to 4 minutes.

Even the adults regularly engage in social behaviors that are best described as play. They are particularly
fond of sliding down steep slopes that have been made slippery with mud or ice, and that terminate either
in a deep pool of water or snowdrift. They will climb up such a slope and slide back down repeatedly,
particularly if accompanied by other members of the group. They also spend prolonged periods in small
groups tossing rocks or clam shells into the water and then diving for them. One of the most common ways
of traveling on snow is to run for a few feet, then slide on their bellies as far as they can.

threats: Hunting and trapping for fur has greatly reduced populations, and river otters are considered
endangered today. They are parasitized by tapeworms.

Saint Louis Zoo

110
naked mole rat habitat and basic behavior:
Naked mole-rats are the only mammals
Heterocephalus glaber
that exhibit eusocial behavior. This type
of behavior describes the colony
lifestyles of bees, ants and termites.
Eusocial animals live in large colonies
within which only one female, the
queen, and a small number of males
participate in reproduction. The rest of
the colony members share such tasks
as feeding and defending the queen
and raising her offspring. In honey bee
colonies, the queen produces a
chemical which prevents other females
appearance: Cylindrical mammal from breeding. In naked mole-rat
completely lacking hair, except for a few colonies, the queen fights other
sensory whiskers (vibrissae) on face and females, often to the death, to prevent
tail, plus a fringe of hair on feet. Short them from breeding.
legs, tiny eyes and no external ears. Very
powerful jaw muscles and large A queen may breed for 12 years, or until
protruding incisors used for burrowing. she is displaced by a more aggressive
Skin is very wrinkled because no fat layer female. The queen has four litters a
is underneath. Color varies from pink to year, with an average size of seven to
yellow to white or gray. ten pups. When a litter is born, a group
of non-reproductive colony members
size: 7.0-8.5 cm body length, tail length forms a living carpet on which the
3.5-4.0 cm, weight 30-60 gm; queen queen and her pups lie for three to four
may be 90 gm. weeks while the queen nurses them.
The first solid food the pups eat are
food: Mole-rats are strict herbivores; feces that they actively solicit the adults
food includes roots, tubers and to produce for them. The young then
underground plant parts found while begin to help keep the tunnels clear and
burrowing. to gather food for the nest. Older
individuals dig new tunnels in search of
range: Eastern sub-Saharan Africa, food and defend the burrow against
central and eastern Ethiopia, central intruders.
Somalia and Kenya.
threats: Burrowing reptiles,
especially the rufous-beaked snake.

Saint Louis Zoo

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 goat
Eight species in genus Capra

appearance: Goats with varied sizes and horns. Males

are odorous, with beards. In wild species, horns of males are
500-1,600 mm long and horns of females are 150-380 mm
long, with much variation between species. Some are long
and curved, some curlicued.

size: Sizes are varied, but males are generally larger than
females.

food: All species graze for grass and vegetation.

range: Europe, Asia, and Africa

habitat and basic behavior: Most goats are well

adapted to mountainous areas and are good climbers. Adult
males and females are often separate for most of the year.
The Cretan wild goat (Capra aegagrus) lives in groups of five
to 25 individuals, which vary through the year. Females
remain in the groups except to give birth. Males usually stay
apart in small bachelor groups. They form dominance
hierarchies and compete for mating privileges. Conflicts
involve threats, visual displays with the horns. They may rear
up and crash horns together.

threats: Hunting for horn trophies and meat has

decimated many species. The domestic goat is maintained
worldwide for milk, meat and wool. It often competes with
wild species for food. The European ibex was reduced by
sport hunting and a demand for body parts to only about 60
individuals in northern Italy in the nineteenth century. Those
animals were carefully protected and used to reintroduce
the species to the Alps. By the 1980s there were more than
12,000 in Switzerland and elsewhere.

from Nowak, R.M. “Walker’s Mammals of the World," (6th ed.), John Hopkins University Press,
Baltimore, 1999.

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chimpanzee
Pan troglodytes

appearance: Monkeys with socialized societies that may have as

prominent ears, protruding lips, arms many as 80 members. Social position
that are longer than legs, a long hand in the hierarchy is extremely important.
with a short thumb, and no tails. Face Chimps communicate by facial
is bare and usually black, color ranges expressions, vocal sounds and posture.
from deep black to light brown. Hair They have a long childhood, with
on the head may grow in any young dependent on their mothers
direction, and baldness occurs in both until age 5, and maturity at age 13.
sexes at maturity. Bonds between mother and young,
especially females, can last a lifetime.
size: Head and body length about Chimps can live up to age 50.
635-940 mm, height 1.0-1.7 meters,
weight 34-70 kg for males, 26-50 kg The chimpanzee is renowned for its
for females. Captive animals can ability to make and use tools. They often
weigh as much as 68-80 kg. feed by carefully poking a stick or vine
into a termite nest to collect the insects.
food: Fruit, seeds, honey, insects, Chimps also use sticks as hooks to pull
eggs and meat. They may prey on down fruit-laden branches. They may
other monkeys and small animals. fight with sticks as weapons. They use
stones as hammers to crack nuts.
range: Tropical rainforests and
savannah in Gambia and Uganda threats: Hunting for pets, and
habitat loss threaten the chimpanzee in
habitat and basic behavior: the wild.
Most chimpanzees spend daylight
hours in trees. Young individuals may
swing from branch to branch
(brachiate), but the most common from Nowak, R.M. “Walker’s Mammals of the World," (6th
ed.), John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, 1999.
form of locomotion is knuckle-walking:
walking on all fours with the fingers
turned under. They live in highly

113
 malayan sun bear
Ursus malayanus

appearance: These small bears are mostly Mothers give birth to one or two young, about
black, with whitish or orange breast mark and 325 gm each. Cubs are blind, nearly naked and
grayish or orange muzzle. The body is stocky, helpless. They are very dependent on their
muzzle short, paws large and claws are strongly mothers for at least three or four weeks. Once out
curved and pointed. The soles are naked. of the den, cubs learn to climb very quickly. They
stay with their mothers for at least a year, possibly
size: 1,000-1,400 mm, tail length 30-70 mm, longer. Captive bears can live up to 31 years
shoulder height about 700 mm, weight 27-65 kg.
threats: Sun bear cubs are popular as pets, but
food: omnivorous, including honey, insects, larvae, larger animals are unruly and often sold as parts,
coconut palm, termites, fowl, rodents, fruit juices which are used in the medicinal trade. Logging of
forests and conversion to rubber plants has
range: Dense forests in central China, Burma, contributed to habitat loss and population decline.
Thailand, Indochina, Malay peninsula, Sumatra, They are considered endangered. Tigers and other
Borneo big cats are predators.

habitat and basic behavior: Sun bears

are active at night, usually sleeping and sunbathing
by day in trees. They break or bend tree branches
to form nests and lookout posts. The walking gait is
unusual in that all feet are turned inward. The
species is very shy and retiring and does not
hibernate. An expert tree climber, it is cautious,
wary and intelligent. A young captive observed the
way in which a cupboard containing sugar was from Nowak, R.M. “Walker’s Mammals of the World," (6th ed.), John Hopkins
University Press, Baltimore, 1999.
locked with a key, and later opened the cupboard Stonehouse, B. Bears: A Visual Introduction to Bears. AND Cartographic
Publishers Ltd. New York, 1998.
by inserting a claw in the keyhole and turning.

114
flamingo
Phoenicopterus ruber ruber
appearance: Large, brilliantly colored aquatic birds. Long sinuous necks, long
legs and webbed feet. Slim, rose colored wader. Bill is specialized for filter feeding
and sharply bent in the middle.

size: 90-155 cm tall, males are a little larger than females.

food: Small marine life, including mollusks, crustaceans, blue-green algae and
diatoms.

range: Mudflat areas of southern Florida, South America, Africa and Asia. Highly
adaptive to chemicals in water, including chlorides, sodium carbonate and sulfides.
Can exist in very hot and high altitude climates.

habitat and basic behavior: Family is one of the oldest bird groups still
alive, with fossil evidence going back to early tertiary. The birds are highly social and
gregarious, living in large flocks of up to tens of thousands. In east Africa, over a million
lesser flamingoes can gather. Birds often spend the day resting, and feed at night.

Starting several months before breeding and continuing afterwards, flamingoes often
devote considerable time to the performance of collective displays, which may be
carried out by hundreds of birds. They consist of a series of ritualized postures and
movements. One of the most common, “head flagging,” involves stretching the neck
and head up as high as possible and turning head from side to side. The purpose of
these displays is to synchronize, by means of hormonal stimulation, the breeding
attempts of as many birds as possible. In this way, populations can make the most
of the periods when conditions are optimal.

A characteristic feature of flamingoes is their resting posture of standing on one leg.

In this way, the amount of heat lost through the leg and foot is reduced. This
posture is also used in hot weather, so it is likely comfortable for the birds.

threats: Humans have been mostly threatened by human capture for zoos.
Wetland habitat destruction also threatens the birds.

from Harrison, Bird Families of the World, New York: Abrams, 1978.
del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A & Sargatal, J. eds. Handbook of the Birds of the World, Vol. 1. Lynx Edcions, Barcelona, 1992.

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 O B S E RVAT I O N S

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NOTES

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