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Astoria Park Elementary
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| CONTENT AREA: Interdisciplinary TEACHER: Sandy Beck |
INSTRUCTIONAL LEVEL:
Grades 3-5 SEMESTER: Spring 2007 |
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
This class is an in-depth
study of the non-human hominoids – chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas
and orangutans – and of efforts to conserve their populations.
Students will become familiar with the science of ethology – the comparative study of animal behavior. Ethologists study the biological roots and meanings of animal actions. The first step in that process is to construct an ethogram. An ethogram is a quantitative description of an animal’s normal behavior in a given environment. Constructing a useful ethogram demands time spent watching animals, taking careful notes and making inferences from the observed behaviors.
Students will study scientific theories of how great apes evolved, how humans and great apes are alike and how we are different. Students will compare primate anatomy, locomotion and behavior. Students will study their behavior in the wild through several very excellent videos, books and web sites. They will learn how great apes use tools and how they communicate with others of their kind and, now, with us.
There will be a possible field trip to the Jacksonville Zoo's "Great Apes of the World" exhibit to compare their behavior in the wild with their behavior in captivity. Students will also closely observe the apes and complete ethograms, charting their behaviors.
Dr. Elizabeth H. Peters, associate professor of anthropology at Florida State University, will visit our classroom to discuss her work with primates and engage students in hands-on activities in which they will work with skulls and skeletons of the four great apes and other primates.
The following student behavioral objectives are based on Joseph Renzulli's Model of Gifted Education
EXPLORATORY ACTIVITIES (TYPE
I)
Students will:
- create an evolutionary tree of primates, based upon physical
characteristics and genetic evidence.
- based on physical characteristics, distinguish monkeys from
apes and apes from humans.
- use maps to locate populations of great apes in the world today.
- compare populations and ranges of great apes today with estimates
of 10,000 years ago.
- listen to a guest speaker, a local anthropologist, discuss
her methods and her work.
- listen to and observe a guest speaker, a local anthropologist,
compare chimpanzee and human skeletons.
- view selected videos and take notes about the research and
lives of Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, Birute Galdikas; and theories
of animal intelligence and consciousness.
- view selected videos to observe and take notes on great ape
behavior in the wild, including: family and social interactions;
the ways in which they communicate feelings, needs and social
status; and care of youngsters
- visit a zoo to observe and create ethograms on great ape behavior
in captivity
- read various materials -- articles, books and web sites --
on above topics.
- in small groups, research great apes, including their: range,
diet, habitat, world population, physical characteristics, social
organization and behavior (group hierarchy, aggression, etc.),
care of young, childhood, life expectancy, tool use, communication,
personalities, intelligence, problems in the wild and in captivity,
and conservation issues and organizations
- practice samples of Koko the gorilla's American Sign Language
vocabulary
- identify individual chimpanzees within a group
- explore ways that humans can create a more compassionate world
for all living beings
- read about and discuss relevant current events and issues
TRAINING PROCESSES (TYPE II)
Students will:
- keep a "ethologist's journal " which will include notes, ethograms, handouts, drawings, and so on.
- use notes taken during videos and on the field trip to compare
great ape behavior in the wild with their behavior in captivity.
- use American Sign Language to carry on a short conversation
with a partner
- role-play different methods of great ape and human locomotion
and grasping.
- role-play tool use by chimpanzees
- compare the facial expressions of chimps to those of humans
- participate in relevant hands-on activities and brainstorming
after the guest speaker's presentation and the field trip
- use organizational, computer, and creative writing skills to
produce articles, poetry and letters
- use critical thinking skills to develop a unique presentation
and/or educational display which will teach
others what they have learned about a particular great ape species
and relevant issues
STUDENT PRODUCTS (TYPE III)
Possible products include:
- a unique presentation and/or educational display which will
teach others about a particular great ape species and relevant
conservation and ethical issues
- a survey of
students' and adults' knowledge of and attitudes towards great
apes in zoos or biomedical research. Students could use an attitudinal
scaled developed by Kellert (1984) to test students' attitudes.
Compare hypothesis to actual results.
- remodels one of the zoo's great ape habitats to include natural enrichment objects and activities that would
- model or painting of a great ape's habitat
- photographic study of apes observed on field trip
- use their ethogram and resulting graph to create a field report of great apes in the zoo they visit.
How they were attained and brought to the zoo? How they are fed
and cared for? Does it resemble their natural habitat? Does the
habitat sufficiently provide for the animal's needs? How could it
be improved on?
TECHNOLOGY UTILIZATION
Internet
United Streaming Video
Word-processing, desk-top publishing, PowerPoint,
Photography
VIDEOS
Bonobo People, George State University's Language Research
Center
A Conversation With Koko, Nature Video Library
Inside the Animal Mind, Nature Video Library
Jane Goodall's Wild Chimpanzees, Nature Video Library
Wild Discovery: Orangutans - the High Society, Discovery
Channel
People of the Forest: the Chimps of Gombe, Discovery Channel
Gorilla, National Geographic Video
Ape, Eyewitness
Kanzi, an Ape of Genius, NHK
Jane Goodall, Reason for Hope, PBS
BOOKS
Koko-Love, Conversations With a Signing Gorilla, by Dr. Francine Patterson
Koko's Story, by Dr. Francine Patterson
Koko's Kitten, by Dr. Francine Patterson
Cenzoo, The Story of a Baby Gorilla, by Joe Verrengia
Gorillas, Gentle Giants of the Forest, by Joyce Milton
Cousins, Our Primate Relatives, by Joan Dunbar and Louise Barrett
Kratts' Creatures, To Be a Chimpanzee, by Chris Kartt and Martin Kratt
Through a Window, My Thirty Years With the Chimpanzees of Gombe, by Jane Goodall
With Love, Ten Heartwarming Stories of Chimpanzees in the Wild, by Jane Goodall
The Chimpanzees I Love, Saving Their World and Ours, by Jane Goodall
The Chimpanzee Family Book, by Jane Goodall
Bonobo, the Forgotten Ape, by Frans De Waal and Frans Lanting
COMMUNITY RESOURCES UTILIZED
Dr. Elizabeth H. Peters,
Associate Professor of Anthropology
Florida State University