What is animal behavior, how do we study it, and how does it relate to conservation? |
The Behavior Matters curriculum, created in partnership with the Brookfield Zoo, introduces students to these important questions. To find answers, students investigate the many interactions between animals and their environment, animals’ behavioral adaptations, and issues of bio-diversity. The curriculum focuses on the study of behavior as a real science, with clear methods, objectives, and outcomes, and the fact that understanding behavior can have important conservation implications. | 
Download Behavior Matters curriculum materials. Here's another useful link: The Animal Behavior Society www.animalbehavior.org/ABS | Students begin by observing the behavior of familiar animals (themselves), then move on to classroom and field observations of a number of different kinds of animals. Students practice the methods of behavioral observation using videotaped examples of animal behavior, such as maternal behavior in gibbons or feeding behavior in meerkats. The videotape introduces the students to several real researchers and students of behavior. | Other activities include multi-disciplinary discussions of behavior and conservation in practice, and readings on the role of zoos in conservation. The unit ends with a field trip to Brookfield Zoo, where students conduct real-life behavioral observations of their own design, and analyze and present their results to their peers. For example, students might observe gorillas to evaluate how gorillas in the zoo spend their time and whether it differs from gorillas in the wild, or they may study the interactions of several bird species in a mixed-species exhibit to evaluate how different species interact with one another. | Behavior Matters makes use of Animal Landlord, one of the Biology Guided Inquiry Learning Environments, (BGuILE) for analyzing animal behavior. Animal Landlord provides the tools to analyze and annotate digitized video examples of behavior, both within and across species. By studying video clips of various animals foraging, students learn about predator and prey behavior and what affects it. Please click here for hardware requirements.
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| To learn more, go to the Behavior Matters Project Site. For information on using Behavior Matters in your classroom, e-mail Lou- Ellen Finn or Chandra James, or call 847-491-5420. If you are interested in finding more about other BGuILE projects, go to BGuILE (Biology Guided Inquiry Learning Environment) project website. |
 | Students using the Animal Behavior software start on this screen, where they can click on one of the panes to see a video clip of a specific animal foraging and eating. Click on the thumbnail to see more detail. |  | Students can freeze the video at any point to capture a frame showing behavior they are interested in. This screen shows several captured frames. In the panes on the right, students record their observations, interpretations, and questions regarding the image. Click on the thumbnail for more detail. |
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