Unit 08 · Animal Behavior & Ecology

Optional independent observation or approved-media extension

Scope and safety: Use approved images/models, published or synthetic datasets, or instructor-approved non-intervention observation from safe access. No capture, animal manipulation, stress induction, feeding trials, biological sampling, or wildlife handling. Do not disturb nesting or rare animals or disclose sensitive wildlife sites. Stop if safe access or a non-disturbing view is unavailable; use supplied evidence instead. Instructor approval or a proposed observation is not a performed lab claim.

Materials and preparation

• The codebook and blank time/code/reason columns; a timer; an instructor-approved existing video with lawful access or a safe non-intervention view.
• If no suitable view or recording is available, use the supplied records for analysis only. No observation, media coding or animal procedure is then claimed.

Procedure and schedule

1. Before starting, record the evidence mode, source/date, broad non-sensitive context, focal ID if reliably distinguishable, scheduled duration and 30-second instants. Never publish a wildlife location.
2. Observe from established safe access without approaching, following, moving, feeding or calling to an animal. Stop if the animal changes behavior in response to your presence or if nesting/rare animals or unsafe access are involved.
3. At each scheduled instant record the code; do not replace an out-of-view animal with a convenient one or move missed observations to a busier moment. Add an explicitly unknown category if a visible action cannot be scored; disclose its denominator treatment.
4. For approved video only, use a separate pass for continuous events and visible seconds. Two coders should work independently before resolving disagreements; keep original codes and reasons for revisions.
5. Submit the raw log, visible and scheduled denominators, missing proportion, rates and one limitation. A second recording of the same animal is repeated observation, not independent animal replication.

Record: Keep approval, source and date; distinguish performed non-intervention observation, independently coded supplied media, independent analysis of supplied numeric records, and an unperformed plan. The instructor assesses only evidence actually produced, not a proposed lab or an AI account.

Foundation

• Tally each code for A and B and identify the missing category. Replace "hungry" with an observable statement.
• Using the worked denominators, calculate A's pecking fraction while visible and its missing fraction.

High-school core: typically grades 9-10

• Calculate both visible pecking percentages and both continuous-event rates, with denominators and units.
• Graph state proportions while visible and report missing proportions alongside. Explain why one log cannot establish a behavior's motive, learning history or adaptive origin.

Honors extension: typically grades 11-12

• Bound the possible pecking proportions across all scheduled instants by assigning every O first to not-P, then to P. Calculate observer agreement and identify its limitations.
• Explain why comparing sessions cannot prove a time-of-day effect or a difference in food consumed.

History, reading, and writing connection

Use the behavioral-biology reading and the NPS observation guidance in a 100-150 word source-linked response: why should an observer separate descriptive records from historical or evolutionary explanations? Cite a specific section, one number and one limitation. Contrast modern inference requirements with a story about what an animal wanted; score this writing/source connection separately.

Write in your own words or use an approved accessible equivalent. Cite a specific assigned section or figure, identify its evidence, and state one limitation or counterargument. Use the AI practice contract only for permitted coaching, never to invent observations or write the assessed response.

Transfer to a new case

New session C has 12 scheduled instants at 30-second spacing: P4 W2 S4 O2. Calculate visible and scheduled pecking percentages and, using the separate C event log, events per visible minute. State what you still cannot infer. The instructor provides changed counts for the independent assessment.

Calibration: C has 10 visible instants: 4/10 = 40% while visible and 4/12 = 33.33% of scheduled instants. Its event rate is 6/(300/60) = 1.2 events/visible minute. Missing observations are 2/12 = 16.67%. These measures neither give exact pecking duration nor establish food intake, motives, learning or adaptation history.

Evidence to retain

For Observing & recording behavior, retain the operational codebook, independently calculated visible/scheduled denominators, continuous-event timing and observer comparison. For Lab technique (safe observation & evidence), retain the actual log or clearly supplied record, revisions and a fresh transfer; a proposed observation is not completed fieldwork. Label independent analysis of supplied records separately from independent observation of approved media or safe non-intervention observation. Record the source/date, selected level, calculations, limitation and fresh follow-up; never relabel a supplied dataset as a performed lab.

Record units, calculations, source/date, uncertainty, and what is measured versus inferred. A simulation or supplied dataset must stay labeled as such. Use approved images/models, published or synthetic datasets, or instructor-approved non-intervention observation from safe access. No capture, animal manipulation, stress induction, feeding trials, biological sampling, or wildlife handling. Do not disturb nesting or rare animals or disclose sensitive wildlife sites. Stop if safe access or a non-disturbing view is unavailable; use supplied evidence instead. Instructor approval or a proposed observation is not a performed lab claim.