Sexual Selection
Explain sexual selection as a form of natural selection: runaway selection for peacock tails, bird of paradise displays, and frog calls; explain kin selection and altruistic behaviour — why worker bees die to protect the hive, why meerkats stand guard at personal risk (Hamilton's rule, inclusive fitness); introduce game theory in animal behaviour using the hawk-dove model; define cognitive ethology and survey evidence for animal emotions, play, and culture
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“Can your child explain why a worker bee dying to protect the hive actually makes evolutionary sense — even though the bee never has its own offspring? What's the logic that makes this a successful strategy?”
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- Activity. Explain sexual selection as a form of natural selection: runaway selection for peacock tails, bird of paradise displays, and frog calls; explain kin selection and altruistic behaviour — why worker bees die to protect the hive, why meerkats stand guard at personal risk (Hamilton's rule, inclusive fitness); introduce game theory in animal behaviour using the hawk-dove model; define cognitive ethology and survey evidence for animal emotions, play, and culture
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Can your child explain why a worker bee dying to protect the hive actually makes evolutionary sense — even though the bee never has its own offspring? What's the logic that makes this a successful strategy?
Explain sexual selection as a form of natural selection: runaway selection for peacock tails, bird of paradise displays, and frog calls; explain kin selection and altruistic behaviour — why worker bees die to protect the hive, why meerkats stand guard at personal risk (Hamilton's rule, inclusive fitness); introduce game theory in animal behaviour using the hawk-dove model; define cognitive ethology and survey evidence for animal emotions, play, and culture
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“Can your child explain why a worker bee dying to protect the hive actually makes evolutionary sense — even though the bee never has its own offspring? What's the logic that makes this a successful strategy?”
Curriculum record
- Type
- Conceptual
- Subject
- Science
- Domain
- Animals of the World
- Age range
- Ages 12–13