Jane Goodall Educators Institute – Action Plan

Leslie Leader
Ontario Science Centre
770 Don Mills Road
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
M3C 1T3

416-696-3198 (ph)
416-696-3197 (fax)
leslie_leader@osc.on.ca

Program Audience: K-8 teachers and students

Program Goals:

• to support the K-8 Ontario Science and Technology Curriculum
  
• to provide a fun, interactive, relevant programming experiences for students and teachers
  
• to compliment and extend the learning experiences from the Jane Goodall Wild Chimpanzee film to promote scientific literacy, foster inquiry skills and inspire connections to the natural world
  
• to support attendance and revenue targets
  

1. This 45 minute school program will be offered to grade 4-8 students connecting to the Life Systems strand of the Ontario Science and Technology curriculum (see identified connections below). Groups of 20-36 students will learn about the connections between animals, environments and ourselves in the Centre’s ecosystem lab. This program can be deliver in 5, 45 min time slots daily. Exploring chimpanzee habitat and how they have adapted to it, becoming an animal researcher by collecting, compiling and interpreting animal behaviour data and investigating the ways in which human activity has impacted chimpanzee research and conservation will be integrated into this hands on lab experience.
   

1. Content from the film will be integrated into existing K-3 programs where content is applicable.
   

1. Introduction – Observing Animals (5 min)
   
2. Animal observation (7 minute activity)
   

• Observe animal behaviour in aquarium’s housing tropical fish, poison dart frogs and millipedes. Could also view chimpanzee video or link up to a Zoo’s web cam for live primate observation
  
• Collect behavioural data through a variety of recording mechanisms i.e. narrative format, check boxes, mapping or any combination. Use Jane’s field notes as an example. Could also get examples from Lisa and Elizabeth for comparison of techniques.
  

1. What was learned (10min) - Through observing chimpanzees Jane Goodall was able to document many things about chimpanzee anatomy, habitat and social structure
   

• Chimpanzee anatomy – build a chimp – human comparisons
  
• Chimpanzee habitat– build chimp habitat / ecosystem (Geography of Africa / Gombe) – compare to local habitats
  

1. Adaptation and Interaction - 2 activity stations (7 mins / activity)
   

• Adaptations for foraging – tool use
  
• Chimp social structure / communication
  

1. Conclusion (5 min)
   

• Why is it important to study animals and ecosystems? How do we interact with them? What can we do to further research and conservation.?
  

• identify, through observation, various factors that affect plants and animals in a specific habitat (e.g., availability of water, food sources, light; ground features; weather conditions);
  
• describe structural adaptations of plants and animals that demonstrate a response of the living things to their environment (e.g., the height of a plant depends on the amount of sunlight the plant gets; many animals that live in the Arctic have white fur);
  
• recognize that animals and plants live in specific habitats because they are dependent on those habitats and have adapted to them
  

• formulate questions about and identify the needs of animals and plants in a particular habitat, and explore possible answers to these questions and ways of meeting these needs
  
• use appropriate vocabulary, including correct science and technology terminology, in describing their investigations, explorations, and observations (e.g., habitat, population, ecological niche, community, food chain);
  
• compile data gathered through investigation in order to record and present results, using tally charts, tables, and labelled graphs produced by hand or with a computer
  

• describe ways in which humans are dependent on plants and animals (e.g., for food products, medicine, clothing, lumber);
  
• describe ways in which humans can affect the natural world
  
• show the effects on plants and animals of the loss of their natural habitat (e.g., nesting sites of ducks may be destroyed when a dam is built);
  
• investigate ways in which the extinction of a plant or animal species affects the rest of the natural community and humans
  

• use appropriate vocabulary, including correct science and technology terminology, in describing their investigations and observations (e.g., use terms such as organism, species, structure, and kingdom in describing classification of animals);
  
• compile data gathered through investigation in order to record and present results, using charts, tables, labelled graphs, and scatter plots produced by hand or with a computer (e.g., make an inventory of animals found in a specific location);
  

• identify inherited characteristics (e.g., eye colour, hair colour) and learned or behavioural characteristics (e.g., habits of cleanliness);
  
• describe specific characteristics or adaptations that enable each group of vertebrates to live in its particular habitat (e.g., fish in water), and explain the importance of maintaining that habitat for the survival of the species;
  
• explain how fossils provide evidence of changes in animals over geological time;
  
• compare similarities and differences between fossils and animals of the present.
  

• identify populations of organisms within an ecosystem and the factors that contribute to their survival in that ecosystem;
  
• investigate ways in which natural communities within ecosystems can change, and explain how such changes can affect animal and plant populations (e.g., changes affecting their life span, their gestation periods, or their ability to compete successfully);
  

• formulate questions about and identify the needs of various living things in an ecosystem, and explore possible answers to these questions and ways of meeting these needs (e.g., research the population levels of a species over time and predict its future levels on the basis of past trends and present conditions; determine how the structure of specific plants helps them withstand high winds, live on the surface of water, or compete for sunlight);
  
• use appropriate vocabulary, including correct science and technology terminology, to communicate ideas, procedures, and results (e.g., use scientific terms such as biosphere, biome, ecosystem, species);
  
• compile qualitative and quantitative data gathered through investigation in order to record and present results, using diagrams, flow charts, frequency tables, bar graphs, line graphs, and stem-and-leaf plots produced by hand or with a computer (e.g., use a chart to record the number of producers and consumers in a particular habitat);
  

• explain the long-term effects of the loss of natural habitats and the extinction of species (e.g., loss of diversity of genetic material, both plant and animal);
  
• identify and explain economic, environmental and social factors that should be considered in the management and preservation of habitats (e.g., the need for recycling; the need for people to have employment).