From 1995-through-1999, a student research project

Data from the 1996/1997 study and 1999

Researchers
Mr. Serbeniuk's Biology and Marine Biology Classes, 1995-through-1999

Abstract

My biology and marine biology classes have conducted studies of the gulls on our campus for the last 4 years. During 1995-1996, the students described the daily pattern of campus space utilization by gulls. In 1996-1997, the students showed why campus gull populations are greater on regular school days than on pupil-free days. In 1997-1998, the project looked at interactions between the three gull species on campus. In 1998-1999, the students described the gulls food preferences. This year, the students will test the hypothesis that the more gulls there are on campus, the more likely it is to rain.

OBJECTIVE

Students design and conduct studies of gull behavior on the Manual Arts High School campus.

PURPOSES

The overall purpose of this project is to give students opportunities to learn what science research is--to learn where science information comes from. Students practice the patient art of observing. They learn the practice and ethics of scientific research. They learn what scientific information is, and how we get it. They learn some ecology, evolutionary biology, and animal behavior.

INTRODUCTION
My students have conducted studies of gulls on our campus for the past four years.

1995-1996
A study conducted by my biology classes during the fall of 1995 described space utilization of the Manual Arts school grounds by three species of gull-Western Gulls, California Gulls, and Ring-billed Gulls. The overall pattern is for the gull population on campus to increase between September and December and to decrease between March and May. This study found that immediately following nutrition break (10:00-10: 15) and lunch break (12:25-12:55) on any given day, significantly more gulls are at areas of the campus where students leave food scraps (e.g., between the covered lunch area and the administration building and on the senior quad) than at other campus sites. Students who conducted this study concluded that gulls come to Manual Arts to get food scraps left on the ground during those breaks. The students also noted that there were fewer gulls on campus during weekends than on school days, and suggested that fewer gulls come on weekends because there is less food for them on weekends than there is during the week.

1996-1997
We conducted a new gull study on our campus during the 1996/1997 school year. Before we began our study, I asked the students how gulls could know they would find less food available on weekends and pupil-free days than on regular school days. We considered several possible explanations:

1. that gulls have an internal calendar that tells them on which days the most food will be available. (This sounds unlikely, but many animal species feed in different places at different times of the year)

2. that scout gulls fly from the ocean to Manual Arts High School, and bring back information about the availability of food. (This also sounds unlikely, but scout bees do something similar to this.)

3. that gulls fly to Manual Arts, stay if they find evidence that there will be plenty of food, and leave if they do not find such evidence.

We had five pupil-free Mondays during the 1996-1997 school year. Students showed that the same number of gulls arrive on campus whether or not there are many students on campus. During pupil-free days, the gulls leave campus sooner than on regular-schedule Mondays though.

1997-1998
During the 1997-1998 school year, the students compared the numbers of California Gull, Ring-billed Gull, and Western Gull at each of six campus sites throughout the school day. They did not find any particular species dominating a particular area of campus or dominating at a particular time of day.

1998-1999
During the 1998-1999 school year, the students described the gulls' preference for hamburger patties over bread buns. Every single time gulls were given a choice between a patty and a bun, the first gull to the food took the hamburger patty. As soon as the patty was gone, other gulls fought over the bun that remained.

1999-2000
This year, students will compare using the number of gulls on campus as a rain predictor to using the type and color of the clouds overhead, and the percentage of sky covered by clouds, as a rain predictor.

MATERIALS and METHODS

I divided our campus into 6 research sites, and I divided each class into 6 research teams. On Mondays after attendance, each team went to the site it would monitor. During a specified 5 minute interval, all teams conduct an observation and bird count at their site. Only gulls that are on the ground or on a building were counted. To avoid counting the same gull more than once, Gulls that were flying were not counted--only gulls that had landed in a tree, a shrub, or on the grass.

To avoid problems with school grounds supervisors, I have the students wear orange safety vests. Each vest has a campus site number-l-through-6-stenciled on its back. Supervisors can easily see whether or not an out of class student is really a member of my class and in the correct area of campus.

RESULTS

I have provided the data from the 1996/1997 study, comparing the number of gulls on campus throughout the day on regular schedule Mondays with that during pupil free Mondays. In general, there is no significant difference between the number of gulls on campus in the morning on regular schedule Mondays and in the morning on pupil-free Mondays. On pupil-free Mondays, however, the number of gulls on campus declines faster than on regular-schedule Mondays. The gulls arrive in similar numbers on either kind of day. When they do not find food scraps, they leave quickly.

Note: Monday 21 October was an unusual pupil-free Monday because trash cans had been tipped over throughout the campus grounds the night before, leaving an unusual amount of food scraps for a day when few students were present.

DISCUSSION

This research project takes about 30 minutes a week. That is a lot of time out of a busy science class schedule. However, students doing this research get hands-on science experience that is significantly different from lab work. They learn how field research is done as they conduct a long-term study in the field.

Gary Serbeniuk Manual Arts High School. 4131 South Vermont Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90037. 323-232-1121
Home---2255 Termino Avenue, Long Beach, CA562494-0164 Toyon23571@ao1.com