Because of the variability exhibited by individual animals’ responses to their environment, studying animal behavior can be a wonderful way to engage students in self-directed, open-inquiry investigations. Individual animals react in ways that are a combination of instinct and learned behavior, but collectively they exhibit broader tendencies that can be discussed in terms of ecology, animal behavior, and natural selection. The binary choice activities detailed in this article encourage inquiry by fostering student engagement and purposeful learning through an investigation of animal environmental preferences.