Animal Behavior Teaching ResourcesLink – https://youtu.be/JrzenOfcmBo?si=sKygkAAXPNgIFw31
Video segment from BBC Earth special “Life in the freezer” showing male elephant seals competing for access to mates.
Course content area – Sexual Selection
Course – Evolution & Behavior (100 level)
Campus – Hunter College
Link: https://youtu.be/xW6qZNcTGwU?si=wCx70HYAErMbbYc2
Video on youtube describing how researchers discovered why rough-skinned newts evolved to be the most toxic.
Video is also available from PBS with edited captions: https://cptv.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/tdc02.sci.life.evo.toxicnewts/toxic-newts/
Course content area – Natural Selection
Course – Evolution & Behavior (100 level)
Campus – Hunter College
I use this worksheet after discussing the different factors that can affect the mating system of populations.
This assignment helps reinforce previously taught material from sexual selection (sexual dimorphism, operational sex ratio), as it requires the students to apply that knowledge to mating systems.
The goal of this assignment is for students to gain knowledge about the many characteristics of populations and individuals that can affect mating systems and get a sense that mating systems are not fixed.
Accompanying slides are available in the Animal Behavior Shared Class Resources Folder (for verified CUNY instructors).
Course content area – Mating Systems
Course – Evolution & Behavior (100 level)
Campus – Hunter College
This is a series of discussion board prompts that I use throughout the semester to encourage in-class discussion of the upcoming class material. These are low-stakes assignments that are graded as complete/incomplete.
Course – Evolution & Behavior (100 level)
Campus – Hunter College
Syllabus for Psych160 Evolution and Behavior from Fall 2023
https://evolution.berkeley.edu/bottlenecks-and-founder-effects/
Very brief reading about bottleneck and founder effect with examples. Webpage is part of the Understanding Evolution website from UC Museum of Paleontology. Webpage is available in Spanish.
Used as a pre-class reading to prepare for a class covering genetic drift and other mechanisms of evolution.
Course content area – Population Genetics & Mechanisms of Evolution – Genetic drift, mutation, gene flow, Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium
Course – Evolution & Behavior (100 level)
Campus – Hunter College
https://evolution.berkeley.edu/dna-and-mutations/
A series of webpages covering how DNA is the molecular basis of evolution and the role of mutations in evolution. Webpages are part of the Understanding Evolution website from UC Museum of Paleontology.
Assigned as a pre-class reading for a class on Raw Material – DNA, genes, variation, inheritance, epigenetics
Course content area – Raw Material – DNA, genes, variation, inheritance, epigenetics
Course – Evolution & Behavior (100 level)
Campus – Hunter College
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2022/04/06/1091086672/animal-human-emotions
NPR podcast, or article, by Jon Hamilton covering the work of David Anderson and other researchers who are exploring the neurological basis of emotions in non-human animals like fruit flies.
Given as an optional reading to support class material on Emotions
Course content area – Emotions
Course – Evolution & Behavior (100 level)
Campus – Hunter College
Article by Travis Dixon, IB Psychology webpage, describing the Sweaty T-shirt study and the role of MHC genes. Includes references and critical thinking questions.
Assigned to support material covered in a Sexual Selection class. Assigned along with For gay men, an attraction to a different kind of scent
Course content area – Sexual Selection or Human Evolution & Behavior
Course – Evolution & Behavior (100 level)
Campus – Hunter College
New York Times article, by Nicholas Wade, describes research that is looking at patterns of brain activity when queer individuals smell pheromones of males and females.
I assign this article along with the famous t-shirt sniff article in which heterosexual females sniff the t-shirts of males and rate their attractiveness – Key Study: “The Sweaty T-shirt Study” (Wedekind et al. 1995)
Course content area – Sexual Selection or Human Evolution & Behavior
Course – Evolution & Behavior (100 level)
Campus – Hunter College
