Animal Behavior Course Has Staying Power

Huntington High School’s Animal Behavior elective science course has enjoyed staying power. It has long been a staple in the course guide, attracting a devoted following over the decades.

Sarah Hall is teaching the course in the fall semester. Fellow science department faculty member Anna Jao will teach a section of the course during the spring semester.

Ms. Hall said the class has been going well. It meets daily during ninth period. The students are motivated, inquisitive and hardworking.

“Today we completed our first live animal lab in Animal Behavior,” Ms. Hall said. “The students designed their own experiments that studied the behaviors and preferences of pill bugs in their environment. Some students studied if pill bugs like warm or cool environments, prefer sand or soil, and even one 2-day research project on preferences of food.”

Class members will be completing a few more live animal labs in the course. “The students are excited to keep working with different species,” added Ms. Hall.

Animal Behavior is a one semester, half-credit science course available to students in grades 9-12.There is no prerequisite.

“The characteristic behavior patterns of various groups of animals will be discussed in terms of their biological components, causes, implications and survival value,” states the course description. “Among the topics to be investigated will be animal rights, ethology, innate and acquired behavior, communication among animals and social behavior. Students will be actively participating in laboratory investigations including setting up and maintaining a habitat for live animals. Other activities include reading assignments, lectures, videos and films on animal behavior.”