Tuesday, November 6, 2012

VDA 2

1. a) In what way does their research contribute to the greater good?
It helps us to think deeper about how animal's minds work and allows us to bond with them. If we are able to understand an animal's behavior, we may be able to find clues or warning signs that can tell us something about our environment.
  
b) What questions did the scientist pose that led to the research that s/he did?
Why do birds vary their calls?
When birds varied their calls, did that indicate they were giving a different meaning to each message?
Does the degree of danger the chickadees face affect how many "dee" notes they add to the end of their call?
c) What field of science does this fall into?  (Biology, chemistry, physics, etc.?)
It falls into biology.

2. Dear Dr. Templeton,
I think your research on this subject was very interesting and it caught my attention because I own two parakeets that constantly call to each other. I was wondering if other species pick up on the chickadee's alarm calls and know them for what they are. For example, there were some robins around at the same time, would they have been able to recognize them as alarm calls? Also, do male and female chickadees have different calls?
Thank you,
Heba

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