Animal Behavior

Animal Behavior

Learning target: I will be able to identify different animal behaviors.

Key Vocabulary

• Stimulus

• Innate behavior

• Learned behavior

• Social behavior

• Migration

• Hibernation

• Estivation

Stimulus

A stimulus is a type of information that causes a reaction or change in an organism. Hunger is an example of a stimulus. Stimuli can be internal or external.

Multiple Choice

A __________ is a type of information that causes a reaction or change in an organism.

• behavior

• migration

• stimulus

• I wasn't paying attention

Innate Behavior

An innate behavior develops without depending on learning or experience. An example of this would be a newborn whale being able to swim without having to learn how.

Learned Behavior

A learned behavior is a behavior that develops through experience or from observing the actions of other animals. An example would be young wolves learning to coordinate their movements while hunting to trap their prey.

Learned or Innate Behaviors?

Get ready to answer whether you think a behavior is learned or innate!

Multiple Choice

A baby yawning for the first time.

• Learned

• Innate

Multiple Choice

Young dolphins watching adults stir up food along the ocean floor and mimicking the behavior.

• Learned

• Innate

Multiple Choice

Gazelle running away from a cheetah.

• Learned

• Innate

Multiple Choice

Crocodiles gathering in a river at the same time every year during the zebra migration.

• Learned

• Innate

Migration

Migration is the seasonal movement from one place to another. Monarch butterflies cannot survive cold weather, so they migrate south to a warmer climate in the winter

Hibernation

Hibernation is a period of inactivity and decreased body temperature that some animals experience in winter. Some frogs can be frozen in water and go into hibernation to survive the winter.

Estivation

Estivation is a period of inactivity experienced during hot and dry summers. North American desert tortoises will estivate underground to avoid the heat in the summer months.

Migrate, hibernate, or estivate??

Get ready to answer some questions on whether a behavior is migration, hibernation, or estivation!

Multiple Choice

Grey Whales move between cold waters where they feed, to warm waters where they give birth.

• Migration

• Hibernation

• Estivation

Multiple Choice

A lungfish burrowing into the mud when the water dries up in the pond.

• Migration

• Hibernation

• Estivation

Multiple Choice

Canadian geese flying north in the summer to rich feeding grounds.

• Migration

• Hibernation

• Estivation

Multiple Choice

Polar bear mothers creating a den and becoming very inactive during the winter months with their cubs.

• Migration

• Hibernation

• Estivation

Social Behaviors

Social behaviors are a set of interactions that occur among animals of the same species. Gorillas will regularly groom through each others hair in search of bugs to eat, which in turn cleans the other gorilla.

Multiple Choice

Who is your favorite science teacher that you have had this year?

• Mr. Power

• Literally any other science teacher