The Behavior of Organisms (9-12)

* Multicellular organisms have nervous systems that generate behavior.  * Organisms have behavioral responses to internal changes and external stimuli.  * Like other aspects of an organism's biology, behaviors have evolved through natural selection.   * Behavioral biology has implications for humans, as it provides links to psychology, sociology, and anthropology.  (NSES, 1996)

The name of this collection of "learning tools" about one of the planets most intelligent creature is called Chimpanzee.  Students learn about chimp behavior and even have a chance to play the interactive Chimp Challenge. To explore the behavior of many other animals click here.  This site is brought to us by the bbc.co.uk , a leader in science education.

The name of this "learning tool" is called Pavlov's Dog. In this game, you will find out if you can train a dog to drool on command! Ivan Pavlov's description on how animals (and humans) can be trained to respond in a certain way to a particular stimulus, has drawn much interest ever since he first presented his findings. His work paved the way for a new and objective method of studying animal and human behavior. This comes to us from nobelprize.org, a very creative site!

The collection of short learning modules is called Principles of Animal Behavior. Eight different organisms, including scorpions, bees, ants, caterpillars, and lizards are each described by highlighting a special kind of behavior that they exhibit. This web site has been produced by the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Arizona. Great work!

This learning tool is called Simple Stimuli Trigger Fixed Behaviors and is really quite a nice lesson on behavior. It has been developed by Sumanas, Inc.

Sex and the Single Guppy is a "learning tool" that explores the relationship between behavior, adaptation, and natural selection. A properly dressed male guppy stands out. But why are these fish so flashy? For a guppy, which spends its life swimming among predators, being well camouflaged could mean the difference between life and death. The PBS produced Evolution features this cool tool. Look for the tabs in the lower right after the interactive loads.

Challenging, elegant, and very special. Ariel Dolan has created eFloys. They are territorial, have an individual personality, and the ability to evolve. This will take your biology students a little time to master, but once they have it, they will learn a life long lesson on behavior, evolution, and natural selection. This one you need to read the instructions! Visit Ariel Dolan's Artificial Life and Other Experiments to see other cool interactives.