{ "nid": "60", "details": "\x3cspan class=\"title\"\x3eEcoBeaker™: Mother Nature\'s Supermarket\x3c/span\x3e\x3cbr/\x3e\n\x3cspan class=\"description\"\x3eThe laboratory simulates gophers foraging in different spatial configurations of food sources, where they can\'t see the food and so must make decisions based on their recent foraging success. Students manipulate two parameters controlling these decisions and must optimize those parameters for each food configuration. The first part of the lab (which works well for introductory-level classes) ends with a graph showing that the best behavior changes depending on the particular distribution of food. In the more advanced section of the lab, students try to come up with rules for which behavior will be optimal in a novel food arrangement. This is a visually fun lab, with gophers zipping around gobbling up food.\r\n\x3c/span\x3e\x3cbr/\x3e\n\x3cbr/\x3e\n\x3cstrong\x3eLevel\x3c/strong\x3e: Intro or advanced\x3cbr/\x3e\n\x3cstrong\x3eKey Concepts\x3c/strong\x3e: Optimal foraging; Search strategies\x3cbr/\x3e\n\x3cstrong\x3eCourses\x3c/strong\x3e: Animal Behavior; Ecology; Evolution; Intro Bio: Eco/Evo/Genetics\x3cbr/\x3e\n          \x3cbr/\x3e\x3ca href=\"/search_result_details/brief/60\" class=\"node_brief\"\x3eRead less\x3c/a\x3e        \x3cbr/\x3e\x3ca href=\"/cart/add/60\"\x3e + Add to course collection\x3c/a\x3e  \x3c/span\x3e \x3c!-- description --\x3e\n" }