Using open-source hardware to investigate biological behaviours: a DIY approach aimed at educational institutions

This MPhil thesis is the result of some time working with the Raspberry Pi, a cheap, credit-card sized computer. This has been used in this project to offer teachers new opportunities and methods to study a curious microscopic organism, the tardigrade, and a more common animal, found everywhere- the ant. Through these short, education based experiments, I have attempted to identify how this hardware could be used in schools to boost cross-curricular teaching and to enhance the work that can be carried out in a school setting, while sticking to a very tight budget. The entire project has been accomplished for less than £200 and has incorporated a wide range of external sensors that provide real, useful data for studying the effect of environment on the behaviour of animals. This thesis takes the reader through a history of the technology and gives an introduction to the equipment and programmes used throughout, before applying this to two very practical studies which attempt to utilise the hardware to advance our knowledge of animal behaviour. It is, to my knowledge, the first time a Raspberry Pi has been used in ant behavioural studies, and provides schools and colleges ideas on how to utilise this equipment to look at animals in new ways.