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Upon review of the video information, 62 behaviors were analyzed and categorized into the tables shown above. Such behaviors include the actual feeding of the foal, drinking the mother’s milk, digging for food, and so on. In total, eleven feeding behaviors were observed and categorized (Table 1). In video files three and five, it was observed that the foals were given free range to play and interact with each other. A list of 22 behaviors was composed and arranged denoting said behaviors (Table 2). All the specified behaviors occurred during the interaction between the foal and its partner(s) and so we deemed them to be playful. Afterwards, we established the behaviors associated with the foals grooming themselves. These primarily consist of the foal scratching, nipping, and licking its coat (Table 3). This category contained the least amount of behaviors but was significant in that it displayed a very unique set of behaviors. Communicative behaviors range from mechanical and visual modalities of communication to even a few sporadic vocal cues (Table 4). The foals were effective in getting the attention of their mothers and partners via these communicative behaviors and thus sending the signal they wished to get across. Lastly, Table 5 includes the behaviors associated with miscellaneous locomotion and movement. For example, behaviors like sprinting, non-playful trotting, and indiscriminate head bobbing are included in this table. These behaviors pertain no other use than moving from one location to the other and the ways in which the foal moves upon the initiation of said behaviors. To recap, each of the above tables aims to illustrate the a portion of the overall 62 behaviors within its set category. These categories were drawn from the analysis of the two video files provided and used as an organizational tool to effectively present the collected data.

Morgan horses at the Hadley Farm in Amherst, Massachusetts were observed in order to generate an ethogram in which various behaviors, bouts, and states could be analyzed. For the purpose of this project, we focused specifically on the foals and their interactions with other foals and their mother. Their fathers were not present at the time and so many behaviors could not be observed in which a foal may exhibit in the presence of its father. This project was conducted under the idea that we would be able to organize and categorize the foals behavior into tables which would then allow us to run a reliability test, time budget analysis, and a sequential analysis. These tests would help further understand the horses intention and even allow us to predict what behaviors the horse exhibits in a certain sequence. After coming through 180 minutes of footage of the horses, their behaviors were recorded by multiple group members, cross analyzed, and sorted accordingly. In total, 62 behaviors were observed and they spanned through five distinct categories. After obtaining a reliability test across 10 minutes of footage and focusing on several distinct behavior types and bout, we reached a peak reliability range of  35-50. The time budget analysis showed that feeding behaviors along side the foals mother are most prevalent whereas play behaviors exhibit the lowest proportion of time. Thus, we concluded that the foals exhibit unique behaviors depending on their environment, if they are alone or not, and who they are in the proximity of.

 

            When creating a poster, it is important to keep in mind that you must visually attract someone to it and draw them in. As seen from the examples, this can be done with bright colors, pictures, and diagrams. From the posters I looked at, most of them were laid out in such a way that my eyes were able to flow from one section to the other without being bogged down by too many words and too much information. Positioning of data is important while constructing a poster. If the data is too cluttered, the reader might get overwhelmed and lose interest in what is being presented. While having enough data on the poster is crucial, leaving some negative space is just as important so that the eye is not constantly bombarded with information and can relax between sections. I also observed the limited amount of lines per section. The authors of several posters seemed to limit themselves to just a few lines of text so that it seemed easy to read and comprehend. These factors are important to keep in mind as they would prove beneficial when constructing a poster of my own.

            Conversely, I noticed some details on the example posters that should not be replicated. For example, several posters were very drab and unappealing. They were only designed in black and white and lacked any sort of visual aid. Bogging down the poster with only text and data tables can make the poster a little intimidating to those who don’t quite understand what you are talking about. It also gives the appearance that the information on the poster will be difficult to grasp as you’d have to constantly bounce between tables and text so you can grasp the information being presented. I also noticed that some posters write in paragraphs rather than short two to three sentence blurbs. To be honest, I didn’t even read the paragraphs while looking at the poster because I thought it would take up too much time. Paragraphs can be daunting to an outside reader due to the high concentration of information and the amount of time it takes to read through it all. Lastly, I noticed that several posters had their titles the same size and font as the text in the body of the poster. Without the title being any different than the rest of the poster, there is no visual context as to what is being presented. Instead, it is easy to glaze over the title and move on to something else that come across as more appealing and interesting based on the title alone. Such factors like the ones discussed above should be avoided as they would not contribute to the presentation of a well-laid out poster.

Conversely, I noticed some details on the example posters that should not be replicated. For example, several posters were very drab and unappealing. They were only designed in black and white and lacked any sort of visual aid. Bogging down the poster with only text and data tables can make the poster a little intimidating to those who don’t quite understand what you are talking about. It also gives the appearance that the information on the poster will be difficult to grasp as you’d have to constantly bounce between tables and text in order to grasp the present information. I also noticed that some posters write in paragraphs rather than short two to three sentence blurbs. To be honest, I didn’t even read the paragraphs while looking at the poster because I thought it would take up too much time. Paragraphs can be daunting to an outside reader due to the high concentration of information and the amount of time it takes to read through it all. Lastly, I noticed that several posters had their titles the same size and font as the text in the body of the poster. Without the title being any different than the rest of the poster, there is no visual context as to what is being presented. Instead, it is easy to glaze over the title and move on to something else that come across as more appealing and interesting based on the title alone. Such factors like the ones discussed above should be avoided as they would not contribute to the presentation of a well-laid out poster.

When creating a poster, it is important to keep in mind that you must visually attract someone to it and draw them in. As seen from the examples, this can be done with bright colors, pictures, and diagrams. From the posters I looked at, most of them were laid out in such a way that my eyes were able to flow from one section to the other without being bogged down by too many words and too much information. Positioning of data is important while constructing a poster. If the data is too cluttered, the reader might get overwhelmed and lose interest in what is being presented. While having enough data on the poster is crucial, leaving some negative space is just as important so that the eye is not constantly bombarded with information and can relax between sections. I also observed the limited amount of lines per section. The authors of several posters seemed to limit themselves to just a few lines of text so that it seemed easy to read and comprehend. These factors are important to keep in mind as they would prove beneficial when constructing a poster of my own.

By growing the plants in different environments with varying amounts of water, we aim to test the hypothesis that the nastic movement of Mimosa pudica is directly influenced by water availability and turgor pressure. With the lack or excess of water in heat within the 4 environments, the turgor pressure in these leaves may be altered. Through understanding how thigmonasty takes place in Mimosa pudica plants, one can infer how changes in the surrounding environment might affect the plant's nastics movements. The experiment is going to be set up in such a way that we can map collected data plots over each other in order to directly compare the results from the different environments. The collected data will give us answers as to how the varying water levels and temperatures directly impacts the plant’s movements.

 

After being separated for long periods of time, African Elephants have been recorded carrying out illustrious greeting ceremonies filled with vocalizations and actions. Its is hypothesized that the longer the elephants are separated, the more intense the ceremony is. Our group wants to decipher whether or not these ceremonies indicate overwhelming joy or not as recent studies have shown that elephants convey emotions similar to humans. Data on this subject is plentiful and can easily be found online and in scientific journals.

 

Whales communicate with each other at a very low frequency, almost undetectable to human ears. Orcas use various signals while hunting to isolate prey and effectively capture and kill it. As a group, we are asking how the Orca Whales establish a hierarchical dominance? And how they communicate with each other during the act of hunting? As of late, Orcas have been studied more regularly as the hunting behaviors are becoming more prevalent and aggressive without much explanation as to why. With only a quick Google Scholar search, we have uncovered papers, videos, and data sets that other behavioral scientists have gathered in order to better understand this phenomena. Below are links to videos and articles we found with preliminary information.

When defining our sample area, we chose areas of water that seemed to be as similar as possible. At the campus pond, we stood roughly one foot from the water, near an abundant source of vegetation including shrubbery and a tree. When we went to the Sylvan creek, we tried our best to find a location that matched the campus pond as best as possible. Eventually we found a spot that was surrounded by vegetation including shrubs, grasses, and trees, similar to those seen at the campus pond.  To collect our samples from the two locations, we used a plankton net. The net was tossed roughly three meters into the water and reeled in. This process was repeated three times in order to gather as large of a sample as possible. Once this process was complete, the contents collected in the container attached to the net was transferred to a falcon tube and brought back to the lab in order to observe them underneath a microscope.

When defining our sample area, we chose areas of water that seemed to be as similar as possible. At the campus pond, we stood roughly one foot from the water, near an abundant source of vegetation including shrubbery and a tree. When we went to the Sylvan creek, we tried our best to find a location that matched the campus pond as best as possible. Eventually we found a spot that was surrounded by vegetation including shrubs, grasses, and trees, similar to those seen at the campus pond.  To collect our samples from the two locations, we used a plankton net. The net was tossed roughly three meters into the water and reeled in. This process was repeated three times in order to gather as large of a sample as possible. Once this process was complete, the contents collected in the container attached to the net was transferred to a falcon tube and brought back to the lab in order to observe them underneath a microscope.