Biology of Animal Behavior: Syllabus
- Donna McDermott
- Dec 13, 2019
- 4 min read
The Biology of Animal Behavior
Summer 2019 Emory Pre-College Program
How do birds learn to sing? Does your dog love you? Why does Nemo have a dad?
In this class, we’ll use biology concepts to explore how and why animals do the things they do.
Course Objectives
By the end of this course, students will be able to:
1. Describe how scientists develop hypotheses about animal behavior using natural selection theory.
2. Interpret their observations of animal behavior using biological concepts.
3. Distinguish between proximate and ultimate explanations for animal behavior.
4. Design an experiment that investigates a question they have about animal behavior.
Course Outline
Day 1: Introduction, Proximate vs. Ultimate
After this class:
Proximate Factors videos
Day 2: Proximate Factors: Genes, Brains, and Hormones
After this class:
Making Observations video “Why white-tailed deer flag their tails” Bildstein 1983
How to do Ecology Chapter 2
Day 3: Lullwater Day
After this class:
Foraging Video “Behavior by Paleontology” reading
Assignment
Project 1- Discussion board post about Lullwater observations
Day 4: Foraging
After this class:
Communication Video “The Panda’s Peculiar Thumb” Gould
Assignment
Project 1- Outline “Why does this animal do that?” popular press piece
Day 5: Communication
After this class: Learning Video
Introduction and Abstract of “Foraging errors play a role in resource exploration by bumble bees” Evans and Raine 2013
Assignment Project 1- Write and submit “Why does animal do that?” popular press piece and self- evaluation due Sunday at 5 PM.
Day 6: Throughout life- Learning
After this class: Go on Yerkes Tour! How to do Ecology chapter 3
Day 7: Zoo day
After this class:
Habitat Video “Size and growth modification in clownfish” Buston 2003
Assignment
Project 2- Post experimental design idea on discussion board by 5 PM
Comment on two other classmate’s discussion board posts by 9 PM
Day 8: Home
After this class:
Reproduction Videos
Assignment Project 2- Submit experimental design proposal
Day 9: Reproduction
Reading
Cognitive Bias Descriptions
Your chosen “Human perspectives” piece
Day 10: Human Perspectives in Animal Behavior Research
Assignments
Project 1- Popular Press Article
For this assignment, students will use their animal observations to pose and research a question about why some animal does some particular behavior which they have observed . Students will summarize the proximate and ultimate motivations behind this behavior.
Requirements
· 1-2 pages long.
· Writing will be aimed for a non-science audience reading a science magazine (i.e. popular press).
· Describe observation of behavior with an engaging story.
· Include at least 1 proximate and 1 ultimate explanation for the behavior
· Include 3 references, at least one should be a scientific paper.
An example: Why do dogs bark?
An energetic squirrel scampers through a meadow with a fat acorn. The squirrel stops when a harsh focalization echoes through the air. There’s a dog hunched toward the squirrel, teeth bared, barking over and over again. Will the squirrel survive? It freezes under the dog’s focused stare, then turns and leaps away. (This is melodramatic, but, yes, you should explain your observation with an engaging account.)
Dogs bark because they have specialized vocal cords, an endocrine response to certain stimuli, and are better able to survive if they can intimidate potential threats without having to fight them. (This is a brief sketch- you would expand this sentence into several paragraphs.)
While some people think that dog barks are always a sign of aggression (citation here could be a tweet, blog post, or something else informal), researchers believe that dogs bark for all sorts of reasons (cite a scientific study).
Components of Assignment
Due July 17, 10 PM:
Look up some of your observations and questions from the 7/17 trip to Lullwater Preserve. From your brief internet search, which question do you think is worth pursuing? Post about this on the “Lullwater Questions” discussion board under Module 3 on Canvas.
Due July 18, 10 PM:
Continue your internet research and use it to create an outline for this piece. The outline should specify your thesis, the topic of each paragraph you write, and where you’ll reference all three sources. Submit this as a word document in the Canvas assignment “Popular Press Outline”
Due July 21, 10 PM:
Write and submit your popular press piece, based on your outline. To guide you through the writing process, reference the Self Evaluation Worksheet included in Module 5. Submit both the finished piece and the completed self evaluation through the Canvas assignment
“Popular Press Piece.”
Project 2- Research Proposal For this assignment, students will use an animal behavior observation OR our reading so far in class to propose a novel scientific research study. The research proposal should explicitly answer the following questions:
1. What animal species are you studying?
2. What behavior are you studying (optional but encouraged to include, sketch or picture)? Why do you think this behavior is interesting?
3. What is your hypothesis?
4. What is your experimental design to investigate this hypothesis? (Sketches may be useful, here)
5. What variables will you measure and control?
6. What are at least two potential outcomes of your study, and how would you interpret them?
Components of Assignment
Due July 23: Decide which animal behavior you would like to propose a scientific study about. Describe the behavior, your question about it, and why you find it interesting on the discussion board titled “Research Question” in Module 7 by 5 PM
Comment on two other classmates’ posts with a question you have about their experimental design by 9 PM
Due July 24, 10 PM: Submit your research proposal based on the question you posted yesterday. Make sure that the experimental design is clear and that it VERY OBVIOUSLY answers all of the questions above.
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