National 4 Biology Unit 3 Life on Earth
National 4 Biology Unit 3 Life on Earth Key Area 6 Learned Behaviour
Learned Behaviour Learning Intention: to explain and describe how learned behaviours allow species to survive. Success criteria: • Describe different observed behaviours in various species. • Investigate the behaviour of woodlice to various controlled conditions.
Animal Behaviour Starter Look at the following images and try to describe what behaviour is being shown and why it helps that species survive.
Behaviour: Using tools to catch ants or termites. Survival: This species can catch food that other species find difficult.
Behaviour: Lion stalking prey. Survival: This behaviour means lions can get very close to their prey before they attack. This saves energy and increases chances of a successful hunt.
Behaviour: Grouping together (herds). Survival: More eyes to see predators and chances of being killed by a predator are much lower.
Behaviour: American Opossum playing dead Survival: By pretending to be dead some predators are either not interested or distracted which allows the opossum time to escape.
What is animal behaviour? • In Biology we describe behaviour as how an animal responds to stimuli. • Stimuli are environmental changes that an animal can detect. • Examples of stimuli could be: • Temperature change • Moving towards or finding food when hungry • Moving away from danger to protect.
What is animal behaviour? • Animals need to respond to these stimuli to give them the best chances of survival. s: u o n o Pois t Eat Don’ wa A n Ru y arm W y Sta
Activity 1 – Choice Chambers Aim: To investigate which conditions woodlice prefer by observing their behaviour.
Activity 1 – Choice Chambers Method: • Set up a choice chamber by placing a damp piece of cotton wool in one side and a drying agent in the other. • Place a thin sheet on top and then put the lid on the choice chamber. • Carefully put 10 woodlice in the chamber and start the timer. • After each minute record the number of woodlice on each side of the chamber into your results table.
Activity 1 – Choice Chambers Time (minutes) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Damp side Dry Side
Activity 1 – Choice Chambers Conclusion Our results show that woodlice prefer the dry/damp side of the choice chamber rather than the dry/damp side. I think that the woodlice prefer these conditions because________________
Learned Behaviour Learning Intention: to explain and describe how learned behaviours allow species to survive. Success criteria: • Describe different observed behaviours in various species. • Investigate the behaviour of woodlice to various controlled conditions.
Learned Behaviour Learning Intention: to describe the differences between innate and learned behaviour. Success criteria: • Explain what innate behaviour means. • Describe how innate and learned behaviour helps you survive, using examples.
Starter • Write a list on a show-me board of behaviour which humans have to learn and some that are natural: Natural Behaviour e. g. Suckling milk Learned Skill e. g. Tying shoelaces
Animal behaviour can be innate or learned. Innate behaviours are natural and possessed from birth e. g. a herring gull regurgitates its food when pecked on the red spot on their beak by chicks. Innate Behaviour
Innate behaviour Another example of innate behaviour is a honey bee “waggle dance” which communicates direction and distance of food. This is also not learned but an innate behaviour. Bee waggle dance
Learned Behaviour Animals often respond to stimuli by changing their behaviour. Sometimes this behaviour is learned over time by past experiences and helps that individual survive or will give a reward. Learned Behaviour
Activity - Learned Behaviour Aim: To find out if it is possible to learn a new skill in coordination by repeating an experience. Think: What skills can you do now that you have had to learn? E. g. Tying your shoelaces.
Activity - Learned Behaviour Method: • Place the image of the star on the desk and set up a mirror about 50 cm to the side. Make sure you can see the star in the mirror. • Your partner must hold a sheet of card which blocks your direct sight of the star but still allows you to see it in the mirror. • Time how long it takes you to draw around the star staying within the two lines. • At the end record how many times you made an error (outside of the two lines) • Repeat this 5 times. Did you improve each time?
Activity - Learned Behaviour
Activity - Learned Behaviour Repeat 1 2 3 4 5 Time taken (seconds) Number of errors
Associated Learning • Some animals learn to avoid certain colours or foods that have given them a bad past experience. The monarch butterfly has a bad taste to birds and as a result birds have learned to associate the orange butterflies with this bad taste and avoid eating them.
Learned Behaviour • Watch the video link and think about the following questions: 1. How does the matriarch female know how to find the water holes in their dangerous journey? 2. What other skill has she had to learn to make sure they all survive? TWIG – African Elephants
Learned Behaviour Learning Intention: to describe the differences between innate and learned behaviour. Success criteria: • Explain what innate behaviour means. • Describe how innate and learned behaviour helps you survive, using examples.
Behavioural Adaptations Research task: Choose one of the following examples of animal behaviour and carry out some research. Find out how this adaptation works and helps the animal survive as well as some examples of species that use this behaviour. Swarming, huddling, imprinting, migration, communication.
Imprinting Newly hatched chicks from some bird species learn to recognise their mother, often as the first moving object that they see. This learned behaviour is called imprinting. Part 1 – Imprinting: Goslings Part 2 – Imprinting: Goslings
Imprinting is important because it allows newly hatched chicks find food and avoid predators. Imprinting is also partly innate as they will only follow certain objects with certain features. Goslings imprint on the first object they see that moves. Mallard ducklings imprint on the first object they see that moves AND quacks
Swarming (or flocking) • Some animals gather or travel in large numbers • This can be a great protection against predators with more eyes on the lookout and less chance of being killed. Various Swarming Videos - BBC
Huddling • In some extreme conditions groups of animals will huddle together. • This means that they can share body heat and reduce exposure to the cold weather. Penguins huddling video
Migration • Migration is the seasonal movement of animals from one area to another. • This might be to find food, a suitable breeding ground or to escape bad weather conditions. • Examples include the mass migration of wildebeest or salmon migrating up stream to mate.
Migration • Many British birds migrate huge distances to escape the winter weather. • Swallows travel 9, 500 km to South Africa each autumn and then back again in the spring!
Communication • Communication is a vital part of staying alive. Animals have to communicate with others to pass on important information that will help them stay alive. • Examples of methods of communication are: – Making sounds – snakes, whales, rabbits thumping – Visual displays – Dog baring teeth, bee waggle dance. – Chemical – cats marking territory, ants marking path to and from colony.
Habituation is when an animal learns to not respond to a stimulus that is harmless. An example is when you tap a snail on it’s shell. The first time it will retreat into it’s shell to avoid danger but if you repeat the tapping, the snail learns that it is harmless and will not retreat. This avoids the animal wasting energy. Video -Habituation in horses
Activity 4 - Habituation in snails Aim: To observe the process of habituation of snails to a particular stimulus. Method: • Gently place a snail on the Perspex sheet and allow it to become settled. • Using a pencil tap around the sheet a few times and observe how quickly the snail retreats into its shell. • Allow the snail to settle again and repeat the tapping. Do this 4 or 5 times. Does the snail retract into it’s shell the 5 th time?
Habituation
Learned and innate • Can you think of any more animal behaviours and decide if they are learned or innate behaviours? • Use some of these to start you off: – A turtle emerging from its egg and moving directly towards the ocean. – A spider making a web. – A young lion watching its mother hunt. – Mrs Elliott will not have brussel sprouts on her plate.
Activity 5 – Observing and recording behaviour. • What kind of behaviours do you think you might observe in a group of chimpanzees? • Why do you think this behaviour is important?
Activity 5 – Observing and recording behaviour. • Watch the video/live cam and record what kind of behaviours you see happening. • Perhaps choose one individual and follow its behaviour. When and why does the behaviour change? • Resting, feeding, grooming, social, looking for predators etc.
Chimpanzees at Edinburgh Zoo What sort of behaviours can you observe in this clip?
Behaviour Graphs • Use the data in the table to draw a bar graph of Gorilla behaviour observed. Behaviour Time (minutes) Sleeping 17 Bipedal walking (2 legs) 4. 5 Quadra-pedal walking (4 legs) 10 Sitting 12 Chewing 8 Charging 0. 5 Scratching 8
6 Learned behaviour in response to stimuli linked to species survival. �Research examples of innate and learned behavioural adaptations which lead to species survival such as swarming, huddling, imprinting, migration, communication, eg waggle dance in bees. �Practical investigation using, eg choice chambers, mazes, mirror drawing, touch typing. �Practical investigation on habituation, eg in snails. �Research group/cultural/social/territorial behaviour, eg robins, Japanese macaques. Use data to produce a graph/chart of daily activities. �Research how insects (eg bees) learn to associate flower scent and colour with nectar. Changes in learned behaviour due to internal and external stimuli are of benefit to the survival of species.
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