Testing Alternative Hypotheses about Animal Behavior.

Research indicates that the effectiveness of instruction in the elementary classroom is enhanced when it incorporates materials that actively engage students in the generation of scientific explanations. To this end, this document describes an exercise that allows Kindergarten students to explore the basic principles of animal behavior in an interesting and fun way. As part of the activity, students explore the characteristics of terrarium animals, and create and test ideas (alternative hypotheses) about environmental factors that the animals prefer. Along the way, the teacher has an opportunity to introduce several principles of animal behavior, and students have an opportunity to apply them to explain their observations. This lesson is one of a collection of twenty learning cycle-based lessons developed for the Phoenix Urban Systemic Initiative. (Contains 13 references.) (Author/ASK)