Natural Communication - Teacher's Guide |
Episode Overview In the opening segment, Junior Naturalist Patrice looks at how animals communicate with visual, auditory, chemical, and tactile signals. Next, Patrice and Senior Naturalist Dave Erler observe the red fox and how it communicates using scent. Then we take an up-close view at how songbirds communicate. Finally, Morissa and Benjamin visit a pond with Herpetologist Tom Tining and learn how frogs communicate.
Program ObjectivesStudents will:1. Analyze how adaptations help organisms survive. 2. Identify communication as an adaptation that is important for survival. 3. Give examples of different types of communication; i.e., visual, tactile, chemical, auditory. 4. Give examples of communication in living organisms. 5. State uses for communication in the natural world. 6. Recognize the distinct characteristics of the red fox and songbirds. 7. Describe how the red fox and songbirds use communication to survive and reproduce. Vocabulary
Previewing Activity1. Group students in pairs. Give each person a piece of paper with a simple sentence on it. Tell the students they have to communicate the meaning of the sentence to their partner without using words or writing. Give the students 15 minutes to figure out what the sentences are. (Sample sentences might be: The dog barked. The girl is tired. The apple is red...) Have the students share how they figured out the sentences. What forms of communication did they use? 2. Make a list with two columns. In one column put humans, and in the other put animals. Have students generate a list of ways humans communicate and the ways animals communicate. Post-Viewing Activities1. Have students observe human communication and record how it is used. Take the students to an area where people are gathered. Design a "field guide" with categories for visual, auditory, tactile, and chemical communication. Have each student pick a "subject" and record how they communicate and what they are communicating. 2. Take a nature walk with your students and have them listen and take notes about the animal sounds they hear. 3. Have the class learn a "bird song." Many birds learn their song by listening to the notes of other birds. In this activity student are birds and learn their group's song. Go around the class and have each student repeat the song of the "birds" before them and then add their own note. See how far the students can get before the song is lost! | Hands-On: Good to Smell YouMaterials Neededcotton ballscollection of seven distinct scents in liquid form (vanilla extract, perfume, household cleaner...) index cards recording sheets ProcessTell the students they are going to identify the scent markings of five different "animals." When the students are not in the classroom, soak 3-5 cotton balls in each scent and place them around the room. Assign an "animal" to each scent. Hold one cotton ball aside for each scent. Place it on an index card with the animals name on it. Have the students go around the room, find and identify the "animals," and record what they find and where they found it. Note: Make sure the smells from the cotton balls don't dissipate before the students get back into the room. You may also want to note where you put the "animals" so you don't get confused!
Additional ResourcesWeb Sites Animals from the Oakland Zoo Arkive Animals That Talk by Kyle Carter Bees Dance and Whales Sing: The Mysteries of Animal Communication by Marjorie Facklam; illustrated by Pamela Johnson Body Language by Pam Robson How Animals Talk How Monkeys "Talk" by Martin Banks Prairie Dogs Kiss and Lobsters Wave: How Animals Say Hello by Marilyn Singer; illustrated by Normand Chartier Koko's Kitten by Francine Patterson; photos by Ronald H. Cohn Koko Love!: Conversations With a Talking Gorilla by Francine Patterson and Karen E. Lotz (Editor); photographs by Ronald H. Cohn |