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ABSTRACT
The process of exploration and the methods that scientists use to conduct
research are fundamental to science education. In this activity, authentic
scientific practices are used to develop hypotheses to explain the natural
world. Students observe grass shrimp in aquaria and construct an ethogram,
which is a compilation of the observable behaviors an animal exhibits. They
then conduct an experiment, just as real scientists would, to determine how
changes in the environment alter shrimp behavior. This activity is designed
for a fourth-grade science class and allows students to experience the
excitement of observing a live organism while learning about scientific
inquiry, and also reinforces quantification and graphing skills. “Do You See
What I See”covers Next Generation Science Standards and addresses the
science and engineering practices of engaging in argument from evidence.
Key Words: Animal behavior; ethograms; graphing; inquiry; science education;
NGSS.
Introduction
Teachers and education leaders are becoming
more aware that the process of exploration
and the methods that scientists use to conduct
research are fundamental to science educa-
tion, as indicated by the Next Generation
Science Standards (NGSS Lead States, 2013).
These new standards focus less on following
a set scientific process and more on using
the knowledge and skills that scientists use
to investigate and explain scientific phenom-
ena. Scientists employ many of the same tools
in their research that teachers utilize in the
classroom: models, charts, and graphs. One
particular tool that can easily be implemented in life science units
is an ethogram, which is a compilation of the observable behaviors
an animal exhibits. The frequency of these behaviors can be
recorded and displayed in graphs.
Ethograms have been used by scientists to study a wide variety
of organisms: mammals, fishes, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and
even protists (see Torr & Shine, 1994; Ricci et al., 1999; Scheer
et al., 2004; Gokula, 2011; Cavraro et al., 2013; Cikanek et al.,
2014). The resulting information can be used for conservation,
because ethograms can provide scientists with information on
how animals normally behave and how changes in the environment
can affect their behavior. Ethograms can fit easily into any observa-
tional investigation that students perform in the classroom and are
a connection to real-world scientific practices. Several examples of
educational ethograms can be found on EthoSearch (http://www.
ethosearch.org). In the present activity, students construct their
own ethogram, conduct systematic observations of grass shrimp,
and perform an experiment to determine how changes in the envi-
ronment alter shrimp behavior. Then, they model shrimp behavior
by creating bar graphs that depict how frequently each behavior
was exhibited. This activity is designed for a fourth-grade science
class and addresses Next Generation Science Standards (Figure 1).
Background: Grass Shrimp
Grass shrimp are decapod crustaceans that are
abundant in estuaries along the East Coast of
the United States and in the Gulf of Mexico
(Morgan, 1980). They can be collected from
marshes using dip nets or can be found at
some major chain pet stores or bait shops.
Grass shrimp are easy to collect, handle, and
maintain (Kunz et al., 2006) and have been
used in many scientific studies (Welsh, 1975;
Pung et al., 2002; Chaplin-Ebanks & Curran,
2007; Williamson et al., 2009; Partridge, 2010;
Sherman & Curran, 2013, 2015; Garcia et al., 2014; Brinton &
Curran, 2015a). For example, Kunz et al. (2006) examined how
the behavior of the daggerblade grass shrimp (Palaemonetes pugio)
was affected by the presence of a fish predator. In other studies, grass
Scientists employ
many of the same
tools in their research
that teachers utilize
in the classroom:
models, charts, and
graphs.
The American Biology Teacher, Vol. 78, No 3, pages. 226–232, ISSN 0002-7685, electronic ISSN 1938-4211. ©2016 National Association of Biology Teachers. All rights
reserved. Please direct all requests for permission to photocopy or reproduce article content through the University of California Press’s Reprints and Permissions web page,
www.ucpress.edu/journals.php?p=reprints. DOI: 10.1525/abt.2016.78.3.226.
THE AMERICAN BIOLOGY TEACHER VOLUME. 78, NO. 3, MARCH 2016
226
INQUIRY &
INVESTIGATION
Do You See What I See? Using
Ethograms to Observe Animal
Behavior
•MARY CARLA CURRAN, AMBER SILER,
MICHELE B. SHERMAN
shrimp were observed to determine whether the behavior of the
animal was altered by a parasite (Chaplin-Ebanks & Curran, 2005;
Brinton, 2014; Brinton & Curran, 2015b), potentially increasing its
susceptibility to predators (Brinton, 2014; Brinton & Curran,
2015b). Grass shrimp have also been used in K–12 activities to teach
students about marine organisms and scientific research, because they
are ideal organisms for young students to observe (Aultman &
Curran, 2008; Aultman et al., 2010; Siler & Curran, 2011;
Gunzburger & Curran, 2013; Gerido & Curran, 2014).
Safety
Teachers should determine whether any students have seafood allergies
prior to using grass shrimp or any other aquatic organism for this activ-
ity. Students will only be observing animals during this activity and will
not need to handle them. However, appropriate caution should be
taken if the teacher permits the students to hold the organisms.
Conducting the Activity
Approximate Teaching Time
The activity will require three class sessions, each lasting ~45 minutes.
Materials
•Plastic aquaria (1–2 gallon; one per group of three or four
students)
•Freshwater obtained from sources such as lakes, rivers, and
ponds or
•Saltwater collected from sources such as a marsh, ocean, or
marine lab. Saltwater can also be made in the classroom by
using synthetic sea salt, which is designed for animal husbandry
and can be purchased from national chain pet stores and aquar-
ium specialty stores. The teacher should acquire water that has
approximately the same salinity as the water from which the
organism will be collected.
•Refractometer or hydrometer
•Grass shrimp (other aquatic organisms such as ghost shrimp
[Palaemonetes sp.] can be used if grass shrimp cannot be
obtained; ghost shrimp can be acclimated to either saltwater or
freshwater and can be obtained from most national chain pet
stores)
•Pencils (one per student)
Figure 1. Standards addressed in this activity.
THE AMERICAN BIOLOGY TEACHER ETHNOGRAMS
227
•Science journals (one per student)
•Timer (one per group)
•Observation chart (Figure 2) (one per student)
•Crayons, markers, or colored pencils (per student)
•“What Can I Conclude?”worksheet (one per student) (Figure 3)
Activity Preparation
Fill small plastic aquaria three-quarters full with either freshwater
or saltwater. If making saltwater with synthetic sea salt, use a refrac-
tometer or hydrometer to determine the salinity or density, respec-
tively, of the water. Place one shrimp in each aquarium.
Procedure
Day 1
1. Discuss animal behavior with the class and how that behav-
ior can be observed. Begin with animals that students are
familiar with –their pets. How can you tell when your pet
is hungry? If it wants to play? Draw a T-H-C chart on the
board (see Appendix Table 1). Ask students to think about
why animals would move or behave in certain ways and
how someone can best observe an animal to determine its
movements and behavior. Ask the students to brainstorm
about these questions in small groups for five minutes, and
then discuss the possible answers as a class and record the
students’responses on the chart.
2. Prior to completing this step, teachers should determine
whether any students have seafood allergies (see “Safety”).
Arrange students into groups of three or four. Provide each
group with a timer and an aquarium with one shrimp.
Instruct each group to observe the shrimp for four minutes
and write down in their science journals any shrimp behav-
ior that they see, even if the shrimp is resting. Before begin-
ning the observation and the timer, discuss with the students
the importance of remaining quiet, keeping a reasonable dis-
tance from the aquarium, and not disturbing the aquarium
during the observation period, since tapping on it or making
loud noises could change the behavior of the shrimp.
3. After the observation period, ask students to share their qual-
itative findings and decide on universal descriptions for the
shrimp behaviors. Compile a T-H-C chart on the board, with
the names of the shrimp behaviors listed on the left side and
the description of each behavior written on the right (see
Appendix Table 1). Discuss each behavior until there is a
consensus among students, just as there would be among
scientists, as to what defines a specific behavior. The final list
of behaviors will form the ethogram. Make copies of the
ethogram so that each student can place it into his or her sci-
ence journal on Day 2. See Appendix Table 2 for a list of
behaviors that other students observed during this activity.
Day 2
1. Distribute the compiled ethogram and an observation chart
(Figure 2) to each student. Instruct the students to write
the names of the shrimp behaviors listed on the ethogram
in boxes A–F on the observation chart.
2. Arrange students into groups of three or four and provide
them with a timer and an aquarium with one shrimp; groups
can be different than they were on Day 1 if the teacher prefers.
Explain to students that they will not be using words for their
observations but will only be making tally marks on the obser-
vation charts. Instruct students in each group to begin the
timer and then immediately observe the shrimp briefly for
Figure 2. Observation chart. Students mark which behavior
the grass shrimp is exhibiting at each time interval. Names
of the shrimp behaviors listed on the class-created
ethogram should be written in boxes A–F.
Figure 3. “What Can I Conclude?”worksheet.
THE AMERICAN BIOLOGY TEACHER VOLUME. 78, NO. 3, MARCH 2016
228
one or two seconds (Figure 4) and tally each behavior that the
animal exhibits during that brief period on their individual
observation charts next to the time “0.00”(Figure 2). Have
the students continue to briefly observe the shrimp (for one
or two seconds) once every 20 seconds for three consecutive
minutes and tally each behavior exhibited on their observa-
tion charts. Results should be recorded instantaneously,
meaning that the behavior exhibited right at the 20-second
mark should be recorded, as opposed to all behaviors exhib-
ited over the span of 20 seconds.
3. At the end of the observation period, ask each student to add
his or her quantitative findings to a class tally chart compiled
on the white board. This could also be compiled on a Smart
Board, if one is available, or on a piece of chart paper.
4. Later in the day, instruct students to record shrimp behavior
again for another three minutes on a new observation chart.
Students should observe the same shrimp that they observed
earlier in the day. Depending on the class schedule, it is best
to allow students to make a total of two to four observations
throughout the day, because animals may behave differently
depending on the time of day. At the end of each observation
period, instruct students to add their quantitative findings to
a class tally chart compiled on a white board, Smart Board,
or piece of chart paper.
Day 3
1. Arrange students into the same groups as on Day 2 and pro-
vide each with a new observation chart. Instruct each group
to repeat the observation series, this time creating a distur-
bance in the aquarium during the observation period
(e.g., inserting nets, plastic pipets, spoons, or food into the
water). Again, it is best to allow students to make a total of
two to four observations throughout the day.
2. At the end of the observation period, ask each student to add
his or her quantitative findings to a class tally chart compiled
on a white board, Smart Board, or chart paper.
3. Ask each student to make a bar graph using the information
from the compiled class tally chart from Day 2. Behaviors
should be listed on the x-axis and the number of times each
behavior was observed on the y-axis (see Appendix Figure 5).
Students can use crayons, markers, or colored pencils to color
the bars of the graph.
4. Instruct students to generate a second graph using the obser-
vation data from Day 3 to illustrate how disturbing the
aquarium may or may not have affected shrimp behavior
(see Appendix Figure 5).
5. Finally, lead a discussion about the observations and main
findings. Discuss how this information could be used by sci-
entists who study grass shrimp. For example, scientists could
use the information to evaluate how shrimp behavior would
change if the environment was altered by adding more
shrimp or a predator (see “Modifications”for more informa-
tion on how to do this in the classroom).
Animal Care after the Activity
Shrimp that were purchased from a store should not be released
into the environment; they should instead be retained in a class-
room aquarium or given to someone who has an aquarium and
can care for the animals. If shrimp were collected from the environ-
ment, they can be released or cared for as described previously.
Shrimp can also be preserved in jars in isopropyl alcohol, which
can be purchased at most grocery or drug stores.
Assessment
The ethogram, observation charts, bar graphs, and “What Can I
Conclude?”worksheet (Figure 3) can be used as formal assessments
of student participation, understanding, and mastery of using sci-
entific tools and practices.
Discussion
Engaging students in hands-on activities is a great way to teach
them about scientific inquiry. Students who participated in this
activity enjoyed observing a live animal and were very excited to
learn that they were conducting an experiment similar to those per-
formed by real scientists. An audio podcast that describes the expe-
rience of bringing shrimp into the classroom can be accessed by
searching for the word “shrimp”under “Episode Search”at http://
coseenow.net/podcast/. In this activity, one behavior that was often
observed was resting, and students thought that something was
wrong with how they were conducting observations. Prior to con-
ducting this activity, teachers should take the time to inform stu-
dents that there are no incorrect behaviors for the shrimp to
perform, and that resting or remaining motionless is a behavior
commonly exhibited by shrimp. Some teachers and students opted
to extend the activity by observing shrimp for several weeks.
Figure 4. A student observes grass shrimp (upper right of
aquarium) and records the behavior on her observation
chart (Figure 2).
THE AMERICAN BIOLOGY TEACHER ETHNOGRAMS
229
Individual students were assigned observation roles at varying
times throughout the day or week and then any observed changes
in behavior were discussed as a class. The majority of students
noted that the shrimp rested more frequently as time progressed,
likely because of the static nature of their environment, but that
their behavior often changed when the water in the aquarium was
changed.
In “Do You See What I See,”students create and use an ethogram
to determine how shrimp behavior changes when the environment of
the animal is altered. This activity allows students to experience the
excitement that comes along with observing a live organism while
learning about scientific inquiry, and also reinforces quantification
and graphing skills. The NGSS places emphasis on using authentic
scientific practices to teach science concepts (NGSS Lead States,
2013), and ethograms are an easy way to integrate these standards
into classrooms while providing a rich, rewarding, and realistic scien-
tific experience.
Modifications
If space or monetary restrictions limit purchase to only one aquar-
ium, the groups could rotate use of the aquarium. If grass shrimp
are unavailable, others animals such as ants, mice, hamsters, frogs,
and turtles could be used for observation. Consider selecting ani-
mals that are safe, easy to keep in a classroom, and display a range
of observable behaviors. Students could also observe animals out-
side the classroom by using web camera clips or taking trips to a
local zoo. A marine scientist could be invited to class to do a pre-
sentation about an organism. If the guest speaker is not available
to physically visit the class, a video conferencing session could be
planned.
The time frame used in this activity could be adjusted to best suit
each classroom. The activity could be completed in one day. Addi-
tionally, long-term monitoring could easily be incorporated into
the daily or weekly classroom schedule because observations take
only three minutes. The students could be asked if they observed
any new behaviors over time through this effort.
Other experimental designs could be employed in conjunction
with the use of the ethogram. Several shrimp could be placed in
one aquarium, and their behavior could be compared to that of a sin-
gle shrimp. A larger organism such as a fish or turtle could be added
to the aquarium to determine how the behavior of the shrimp
changes in the presence of a potential predator.
For lower grade levels, teachers could create pictographs and ask
students to determine how many times an organism exhibited a par-
ticular behavior. See Kunz et al. (2006) for illustrations of common
grass shrimp behaviors. For higher grade levels, students could create
an anatomically correct drawing of a grass shrimp. They could use
labels to describe how the different sets of legs aid in the shrimp’s
movement and which body parts are used most or least when different
behaviors are exhibited. A labeled grass shrimp diagram can be found
in Aultman et al. (2010). Students could also convert their data into
percentages and use a circle graph to present the data, as described
by Hoover and Curran (2010). In addition, students could observe
more than one species throughout the year, ideally from different taxa,
such as comparing shrimp (a crustacean) to other invertebrates like
snails (a mollusk) or worms (an annelid). A testable hypothesis
regarding differences in behavior along with a laboratory report could
be developed, as described by Aultman et al. (2010).
Acknowledgments
Funding was provided by the NOAA Living Marine Resources Cooper-
ative Science Center (award no. NA06OAR4810163), Department of
Education (Title VII, award no. P382G090003), and National Science
Foundation (GK12, award no. DGE-0841372). We thank the counse-
lors and students at the 2011 Coast Camp summer program held at
Savannah State University for participating in this activity, and the
anonymous reviewers who helped improve the manuscript. This pub-
lication is also listed as Contribution No. 1758 of the Belle W. Baruch
Institute for Marine and Coastal Science.
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MARY CARLA CURRAN (curranc@savannahstate.edu) obtained her Ph.D.
in Biological Oceanography from the Joint Program of the Woods Hole
Oceanographic Institution and the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology. Dr. Curran has an interest in helping teachers use scientific
data and has developed several activities that incorporate her ecology
research. She is currently a Full Professor at Savannah State University,
Savannah, GA 31404. AMBER SILER obtained her B.A. in Elementary
Education from Florida Atlantic University. She is currently a third-
grade Talented and Gifted classroom teacher in Panama City,
FL. MICHELE B. SHERMAN obtained her M.S. in Marine Sciences from
Savannah State University, where she is currently a Marine Sciences
Technician. Her areas of interest include host–parasite relationships
and marine policy.
Appendix Table 1. Sample T-H-C chart (modified by Siler & Curran, 2011) representing student
responses (T-H-C charts were originally described by Crowther & Cannon, 2004).
THINK of why certain animals
move/behave in certain ways
HOW can someone best observe
an animal to see how it moves or
behaves?
What CONCLUSIONS can be
drawn about this animal’s
movement/behavior?
•Crabs walk sideways because their
legs bend that way.
•Sharks use their tails to swim forward.
•Sloths hang upside down because
they have special hooks, and it
saves energy.
•Turtles pull their head and legs into
their shells for protection.
•Can touch some of them (be
careful).
•Smell.
•See.
•May use microscope or
magnifying glass.
•Catch and put in tank or cage.
•Take a video.
•Visit a zoo.
•Most often observed
___________.
•Least often observed
___________.
•Uses legs to swim.
•Other responses based on data
collected.
THE AMERICAN BIOLOGY TEACHER ETHNOGRAMS
231
Appendix Table 2. Grass shrimp ethogram of the behaviors that students observed shrimp
exhibiting. Other sample ethograms can be found at a free website created by the Lincoln Park
Zoo at http://www.ethosearch.org/.
Behavior Description
Swimming The shrimp is using its legs to move throughout the water column.
Floating The shrimp is in the water column, not moving its legs.
Resting The shrimp is sitting on the bottom, not moving its legs.
Walking The shrimp is using its legs to walk along the bottom.
Backward thrusting The shrimp is using its tail to shoot itself backward quickly.
Appendix Figure 5. Bar graphs depicting grass shrimp behavior. Students recorded the behavior of the
shrimp in a normal setting (Undisturbed Trial) and when disturbances were created in the aquarium using items
such as spoons and nets to stir up the water (Disturbed Trial). The name of the observed behavior is on the x-axis
and the number of times the behavior occurred is on the y-axis.
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