Use this page to help students take notes on animal observations.

1. Animal:
Date:
URL or search term:
Live footage ______
Who made or posted it:
Video_____________
Physical Appearance
Location
Size: _________________________________________
_____________________
Color: ________________________________________
Shape: _______________________________________
Weather
_____________________
Special Characteristics: _________________________
______________________________________________
Other: ________________________________________
# of target animals
Behaviors
visible
(tally as more appear)
# of other species visible
Questions/Other comments

2. Animal Observation Notes
Taking Notes from a Video:
Animal Behavior
The best way to learn about an animal’s behavior is to watch it in the
wild. Of course, we can’t always get to remote or distant habitats. So the next
best thing is to watch live animal cams or recorded video footage.
As you watch, keep these things in mind:
 Be sure to pay attention to where the video or camera feed is
coming from. Is it live or recorded? How long ago was it taken?
 You may need to watch a video more than once. You can also
use the pause button so that you don’t miss important details
while you are writing.
 While the notes sheet can help you to think about what to
notice, you do not need to fill it out completely. Just look for
what makes the most sense to record what is important about
this observation. This is just what scientists do!

3.  Be as clear and descriptive as possible in your observations. Try
to state only what you see (“The mockingbird flew at the
cardinal”) instead of opinions (“The mockingbird was mean”).
 Your observations can become firsthand information to put into
a report. Just be sure to cite the video or the animal cam
website.