Integrative Biology 146. Behavioral Ecology. Lecture spring 2007.
An in-depth examination of the ecological and evolutionary bases for behavioral diversity. Topics covered include behavior as an adaptive response, sexual selection, animal mating system, group living, and cooperative and competitive interactions. Current conceptual approaches to these topics are explored, with an emphasis upon rigorous testing of hypotheses drawn from the primary literature. Discussion sections are used to explore selected topics in greater detail and to stimulate critical review of recent research in behavioral ecology.
In this fifty-minute class, Lacey begins with a review of the last class, breeding structure in social groups, and indicates that this period will focus on one more aspect of social group structure, which ends this section of the course. The topic for the day is division of labor in social species, why it occurs, how it functions, and what its adaptive significance is. She uses honeybees, naked mole rats (with which the students are very familiar), and one species of ants as her examples for the lecture. One of the hallmarks of this class is the clarity with which Lacey presents the material; it is not necessary to have much—if any—background to be able to follow the general concepts and her reasoning. She uses terms with which the class is already familiar, but the viewer can easily pick up on their general meaning. When she introduces new terms or concepts, e.g. “age polyethism”—age-related behavior— she does so clearly and directly, often pausing to ask the class whether a point is clear. The pace is relaxed and Lacey modulates her voice well to convey the important points and her enthusiasm. She is always talking directly to the students in the class. She refers several times to handouts for the day, which the students have, for specific charts and images (such as the relative size of the various bees in a hive). She creates a table on the blackboard, and relies on answers from the students to fill in the relevant parts. She calls students by name. Once the chart is filled in with relevant points about each of the animals under discussion, she asks, “As active behavior ecologists, what would you want to know now?” By doing so, she draws the students into the discussion as colleagues, and she continues to probe their understanding—and to expand it—with a series of questions. When a student raises an objection to a point, she makes it clear that this is a logical objection, and one held by other people, saying, “This is a point of discussion in the field.” In the last fifteen minutes of the class, when she begins to talk about how to interpret some of the observations, she makes it clear what is her view and what are the other views in the field. She ends the class by presenting some difficult concepts and says, “I want to end by planting some seeds for discussion which you can continue on with in your discussion sections.”