Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Standard 1

Standard:
 
MS-LS1-4.
Use argument based on empirical evidence and scientific reasoning to support an explanation for how characteristic animal behaviors and specialized plant structures affect the probability of successful reproduction of animals and plants respectively. 



Demonstration:

This video of the blue footed booby doing its famous mating dance will give students an example of an adaptive animal behavior, and spark their interest because it's hilarious. We'll follow the video with a discussion of why the birds do this dance, and brainstorming other similar animal behavior.
 



Activity:

Groups will each be given a card with an animal behavior (such as nest-building in birds, "dancing" in honeybees, or mimicking in mocking birds) and will brainstorm adaptive reasons for this behavior that would improve the probability of reproduction. Each group will decide on the most likely reason, and write a short paper "proving" their theory, using scientific reasoning.




Essential Questions:

How does your animal behavior increase the probability of reproductive success?

Think about typical human behavior - what behaviors increase the rate of reproductive success?

How are these behaviors related to the animal behaviors you researched?

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