A conclusion for my report?

Question

I am doing a report on animal behaviour and I'm having trouble thinking of a good conclusion. It has to besomething which somes up the whole proccess of the development of behaviour in animals.
Like:
"Let us look at the picture fully. By studying each aspect of the development of animals, we can see that although genetics and evolution have an immence effect on the behaviour of animals, there are many other factors which influence the overal development and behaviour of individuals and species.
As a procces, it is fair to say that genes create the animal, and evolution creates the arrangement of genes. This decides the animals physical chracteristics, as well as its innate behaviours and tendancies. Through play, the animal then learns about the environment in which it lives, as well as learning both practical and social skills.
The way these things are learned are varied."

But better.

Perhaps I wasn't clear. I've already written the report and it's got everything the lady below has mentioned in it, I just need a conclusion to tie everything together. My report is 5 pages long already.

Answer 1

Your conclusion is great to a point. You just need to spruce up the very ending. Add in that through play, observation and the ability to learn new skills or parent taught skills shape future behavior. For instance, they've shown that bears learn to fish from their mothers and fish exactly like them in the exact same spot, etc. Makes you wonder if a carnivore parent is not such a great hunter does it stunt the chance of her offspring, or do they learn through their own learned mistakes? Some things are completely trial and error, like meeting up with a skunk. For prey animals, I think most of what they experience is instinct and their play is the most important factor. Well, you seem smart, I'm not sure why you are asking for help, but there's my penny's worth.

Answer 2

Put it through a spell-checker first!

It's a good idea to cover the nature (genetic inheritance) and nurture (environmental influences) aspects, as you have started to do. Remember that behaviour can evolve too, not just physical characteristics. You could mention 'fitness' and survival to reproduce as well.

You mention play - yes, some animals do 'play' when they are young, but animals also learn by trial and error, observation of other animals and so on. As a rule of thumb, the lower down the evolutionary scale animals are [and the less complex the brain], the more they will be determined by their genes rather than by learned behaviour by which they can adapt.

Animals [e.g. mammals] are born 'hardwired' due to their genes and their early development, but require environmental experiences to develop optimally e.g. visual experiences to develop the visual cortex.

In your report, you need to make it clear which animals you are referring to. The word 'animals' covers a multitude of different phyla, classes and species etc.

These are just some initial thoughts, in no particular order, which may help. Good luck.

Answer 3

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