Observing Play

The Prompt

Spend at least one hour observing animal play in the field — at a park, a zoo, a farm, or with domestic animals. Apply Gordon Burghardt's five criteria to what you observe: Is the behavior incompletely functional? Voluntary? Modified from the serious form? Repeated? Initiated in a relaxed state? Document at least three distinct play episodes in detail, noting what qualifies as play and what might not.

Completion Criteria

A field observation journal of at least 500 words documenting at least three distinct episodes of animal behavior, with each episode evaluated against Burghardt's five criteria. The account must specify the species observed, the setting, and the observer's reasoning about whether each behavior constitutes play.

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