When a city is built, habitat and most organisms living in it are killed or forced to flee. Cities use a lot of energy and water and create a tremendous amount of waste and runoff. Development is the biggest source of pollution.

Most of the major categories of adaptive behavior can be seen in all animals. This course begins with the evolution of behavior, the driver of nervous system evolution, reviewed using concepts developed in ethology, sociobiology, other comparative studies, and in studies of brain evolution. The roles of various types of plasticity are considered, as well as foraging and feeding, defensive and aggressive behavior, courtship and reproduction, migration and navigation, social activities and communication, with contributions of inherited patterns and cognitive abilities. Both field and laboratory based studies are reviewed; and finally, human behavior is considered within the context of primate studies.

In this lesson students will learn to observe special characteristics and senses which influence the life of an animal and become aware of threats to animals and their habitats and how this affects everyone.

Students are introduced to the classification of animals and animal interactions. Students also learn why engineers need to know about animals and how they use that knowledge to design technologies that help other animals and/or humans. This lesson is part of a series of six lessons in which students use their growing understanding of various environments and the engineering design process, to design and create their own model biodome ecosystems.

Not all animals live in the forest, or the ocean, or the desert. There are many different habitats where animals live.

This video segment shows a wide variety of creatures in their respective habitats, with a focus on how the animals move.

Ants eat a variety of foods and are notorious for ruining picnics and eating all the sweet dessert. Ants will eat anything from vegetable scraps to candy.

An ant's body is separated into three parts: the head, thorax, and gaster. The jaws help carry food and move objects around. The antennae allow ants to "smell" by detecting chemicals.

Most ants burrow into the ground and create structures called ant hills to live in. There are some ants that live up in trees.

Ants live in structures called ant hills. They need shelter, food, air, and water.

Bats live in caves. They sleep upside down while hanging onto part of the cave's wall or ceiling.

Beavers build homes called dams. These dams are usually built across a flowing body of water such as a river. The beavers cut down trees to build the dam with by chewing on them until they fall down.

Bees build structures called hives. Bees live in these hives and store food there. The hive cells are also used to house developing bee larvae.

Students explore the biosphere's environments and ecosystems, learning along the way about the plants, animals, resources and natural cycles of our planet. Over the course of lessons 2-6, students use their growing understanding of various environments and the engineering design process to design and create their own model biodome ecosystems - exploring energy and nutrient flows, basic needs of plants and animals, and decomposers. Students learn about food chains and food webs. They are introduced to the roles of the water, carbon and nitrogen cycles. They test the effects of photosynthesis and transpiration. Students are introduced to animal classifications and interactions, including carnivore, herbivore, omnivore, predator and prey. They learn about biomimicry and how engineers often imitate nature in the design of new products. As everyday applications are interwoven into the lessons, students consider why a solid understanding of one's environment and the interdependence within ecosystems can inform the choices we make and the way we engineer our communities.

You are going to be learning all about Biomes of the world! Biomes are large areas on Earth where certain types of plants grow. The ocean biome, for example, is made up of all the oceans on Earth. The climate, type of soil, and animals are all part of a biome.

Most birds make homes called nests. They are built out of twigs, hair, bits of trash, mud, and many other items. Many birds build these nests in tree branches, but they can also be built on the ground or on buildings such as rooftops.

There are thousands of different seaweeds. Brown algae is common in the cool waters of California. The seaweed has thick cellulose walls and appears shiny and wet. Seaweed is tolerable to wave action but needs some moisture to survive.

Grasslands are found where rainfall is low and temperatures are extreme. Grasslands experience drought and occasional fires. The soil of grasslands is deep, moist, and nutrient rich from dead grass and other organisms, which is good for agriculture.

Wetlands are areas with shallow waters that flow over lands that border rivers, lakes or ocean waters. Wetlands can be marine or fresh water and are one of the most productive and nutrient-rich biomes.