teaching and learning about the great apes - DSpace Repository

[nthroNotes Volume 29 No.

1

Spring 2008

TEACHING AND LEARNING ABOUT THE GREAT APES

byCarolynE. Gecan

Seeing

^{apes intheir}natural habitatis

an

experience

not

readily availabletotheaverageperson.

For whatever

reason,

most of

uswillnever

have an opportunity

to research greatapes inAfrica orSoutheastAsia.

Nor

will

most of

us havethe financial resources totravelwith

com-

mercial tours into therain forests

of

eithercontinent.

Thanks

to

computers and

theinternet,teachers

have

a

number of

interestingoptions forengagingtheirstudents in learning

about

thelives

of

the great apes.

Thinking About

a

Zoo Field Trip?

In

some

locales, a local zoological

park may

afford

your

students the

chance

to see apes in captivity.

Some

zoos even offer the public a

glimpse of

apes in near-natural habitats.

However, many

areas

of

the

country

either

do

not havea

zoo

withineasyvisitingdistanceor

do

not have a

zoo

withgreatapesinresidence.If

your

region hasa

zoo

with

an

exhibitfeaturing greatapes

and you

areconsider- ing a field trip to see

them, do your own

research ^first.

You might want

to begin

by

visiting theofficial

web

site of the Association

of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), an American

organization(http://www.aza.org/accreditation) orthe

World

Association

of Zoos and Aquariums

(http:/

/www.waza.org/home/index.php?main=home

_). Is

your

local

zoo

accredited?Ifyes,

check your

zoo'sofficial

web

site. Is there agreat ape exhibit? Ifyes,

and

there is live

"web cam"

coverage

of

its apes,

monitor

thesiteoff

and on

fora

few

days.

Would

visitingthese

animals

bebenefi- cialto

your

students'

anthropology

education?

Would

vis- itingtheseanimals

enhance your

curriculum?

Consider

the conditions

of

captivity.

Would you

becomfortable taking

your

students toseetheapes

on

display?Ifthelocal

zoo

is

not accredited, try to find out why.Definitelyvisitthe

zoo

yourself.

You may

decide that

you do not want

to take

your

studentsthere,evenifitdoes

house

great apes.

If

you

decide

you want

to

accompany your

stu- dentstothe localzoo, provide

them

withactivities tofo- custheirattention

on

specific

and

concrete observational

activities.

From your own

experience

you may

have no- ticedthat

many zoo

visitorstendto

spend

verylittletimeat

any one

exhibit.

Your

students

may

be

conditioned

to

"skim"

thezoo, especiallyiftheanimals are

not

particu-

larly active.Enrichingthestudent experience

by

providing pre-visit activities,observational requirements whileatthe zoo,

and

post-visit follow-up activities will

enhance

stu- dentlearning.

Some

zoos,suchastheNational Zoological

Park (NZP)

in

Washington, D.C.,

₍

http://

nationalzoo.si.edu/Audiences/Educators/)have

Education Departments

thatprovideextensive

information

tohelp teachersplantheir

zoo

fieldtrips.

These departments may

provide printable activities forstudents

of

varyingages.

The

materials

provided by

the

NZP

providea

model of

itemsto lookfor

when you check your

zoo'swebsite.

The 20

^thAnniversaryIssueofAnthroNotes (Spring 1998, vol.

20

no. 1, pp. 9-12) provides

an

excellent set

of

activitiesinits "Teacher'sCorner:

Zoo

Labs."

These

labs were written

by Alison

S.

Brooks

for classes at

George Washington

University,

and adapted

forhigh schoolan-

thropology

students

by Carolyn

E.

Gecan.

Since apesare usually

only

avery small part

of an

overallcollection

of

speciesat azoo,

an anthropology

teacher

might want

to

broaden

the goals

of

herstudents'

zoo

visittoincludeall

non-human

primates

on

exhibit.

The Zoo

Labs

were

de- signedwiththislargerpopulation

of

animalsin

mind. The

chart"Classification

of

theLivingPrimates"thatfollows the labactivitiescan behelpful inextending student focus

from

apestoother

non-human

primates.

The 20

^th

Anni-

versaryIssuecan be

downloaded

free

from

the

Smithsonian

Institution Digital

Repository

₍http://si-pddr.si.edu/

dspace/handle/10088/3541

).

Even

as

simple an

assign-

ment

^as requiring studentsto sketchtheirfavoriteapeat the

zoo can

slow

down

theobservationprocess

and

force students tolook

more

carefullyattheanimals.

Because some of

the

vocabulary

usedinthe

Zoo

Labs

may

be

new

to students, plan a vocabulary-based lesson toillustratethe

new

terminology.

For

example,

one

labactivityinstructsstudents tofocus

on

primate

locomo-

tion.

Does everyone

in theclass

understand

the

term

"lo-

comotion" when

applied to

human and

animal

movement?

Students

can

observe varioustypes

of locomotion

while viewing avideo or videoclips

such

as those

mentioned

below.

Informal

and amusing

activitiesfortheclassroom or

outdoors

helptoillustratea

few

aspects

of

ape

anatomy

Page 8

AnthroNotes Volume 29 No.

1

Spring 2008

Students attempt knuckle walking in Carolyn Gecan'sclass.PhotocourtesyCarolyn Gecan.

and locomotion. These can be used

as part

of an

intro-

duction

to the

Zoo

Labs, as follow-up to a film, or as post-field trip debriefing. All

work

best with students dressed in jeans

and

with feet bare.All

can be done

in- doors orout,

but

ifpossible,

outdoors

is

much more

fun.

Becausethelast activitywiththe

bananas

willpotentially createamess,

you should have paper

towels

on hand!

•

Try knuckle-walking

asgorillas:First,instruct students to

crouch

inplacewith bare

hands on

the

ground,

withfeet,

not

knees, also

on

the

ground.

At your

signal,

have

the class "walk"

forward

a brief distance. After

stopping them,

ask

about

potential

problems

that

might

be

encountered

if bare

hands

were constantlyincontactwithdebris

on

^the forest floor. Next, with studentsstill in a crouch,tell

them

torolltheir

hands

intofists

and

rise

up onto

thebacks

of

theirknuckles,fingers completely tucked in. Tell

them

to "walk"a

few more

feetforward. Afterstopping, ask

them how

knuckle-walkingbenefits thegorilla's hands.

To

extend this

comparison of

gorilla

and human

anatomy,

ask the students to describevariousdif- ficultiesencountered while attemptingthe knuckle- walk: arethe

head and neck comfortable

as

one

triesto

look forward

whilewalking?

How might

gorilla

anatomy

differ

from human anatomy

where

theskullisattached to theneck?

What

about

arm and

leglength?This

might

bea

good

timeto discussthe differences

between

habitualbipedal-

ism (humans) and

habitual

quadrupedalism

(great apes) as

modes of locomotion.

Try

fist-walking as

chimpanzees: Follow

the exercise

above but with

a

chimpanzee

variation.

Maintain

the

crouch

stance.But, instead

of

rising allthe

way up on

^theknuckles

of

thefist,tellstu- dentstotucktheirfingersloosely

under

so that the heel

of

the

hand

is resting

on

the

ground. They

then

"walk" forward

a shortdistance.

Again

re- questobservations

from your

students

about

their insightsinto

chimpanzee anatomy

thattheynoticed while

attempting

thischallenging

mode of

loco-

motion. How

^else

would

a

chimpanzee hand be

different

from

a

human hand? Where would

cal- lousedskin

be most

necessary?

How might

wrists bedifferent?

Try brachiating

as

the

"lesser

apes," gibbons and siamangs:

Tell

your

students to

imagine

they are

going

to cross the

room on

a set

of monkey

bars.Afterraisingtheir

arms

overhead

and

"grasp- ing"the

imaginary

first

rung

with

both

hands,in- struct

them

to"swing"the right

hand one

barfor-

Students discover they don'thave opposable great toesduringthe

"Banana Day

Challenge,"apopular activity.

Page 9

inthroNotes Volume 29 No.

1

Spring 2008

ward

to the

second rung— about two

feet away.

Then,followwiththeleft

hand moving

tothe third rung. Instruct

them

to freeze inmid-swing.

Ask them

to

comment on how

their bodies

would move

inspaceiftheywerereallybrachiating

from rung

torung.

Ask

for

comments on how

thebod-

ies

of

habitual brachiators

might

bedifferent

from humans and

gorillas.

Try

"toe-centric"

manipulations of

objects:

Fortheseactivities

you

willneedthefollowing items foreachstudent: a

pen

orpencil,alargesheet

of

plainnewsprint,

and

abanana.First,havestudents sit

on

the floorwith barefeetwiththe

paper and pen

in front

of

them.Tell

them

thatthey

must

not usetheir

hands

atall.Instruct

them

topick

up

the

pen by

using

only

theirtoes, grasp the

pen

in a positiontowrite,

and

then print their

names on

the paper.

Have

thestudents share their

accom-

plishments.Next,afterfinishingthe writingexer- cise,theyshould putasidetheirpens

and

placethe

bananas on

the

paper

infront

of them. The

"Ba-

nana

Challenge"isanotherhands-freeactivity.

They must

pick

up

theirbanana,peelitwiththeir toes,

and hold

itso thatit can be raised to the chin.

Once most

intheclass

have done

theirbest,con- ducta discussion

of what went wrong and why

the task

was

sodifficult.

At

thispoint,ask thestu- dents

which

is

more

specialized:the

human hand

orthe

human

foot?

How

cantheytellthatthefoot

is

more

specialized?

To emphasize

this fact, ask

them

to stand

and

takea

few

stepswhile observ- ing

what

their great toes

do

as they walk.

How

does

having

aforward facing great toe

make

ha- bitualbipedalismeasierthanhaving

an

opposable great toe?

How

does

having an opposable

great toecontributeto

chimpanzee locomotion?

Follow-up: A

writing

assignment

inclassfollow- ing theactivitiesdescribed

above

^will

enhance

the experiencefor

your

students.

Some of

the discus- siontopics

can

be usedaswriting

prompts. They can

alsoserveas springboardsfor

group

orindi- vidualresearch projects

and

presentations

on

hu-

man and

apeanatomy, evolutionary connections,

and

investigations

of

other

non-human

primates.

It'snoteasyifyoudon'thaveopposabletoes!Writingactivity in CarolynGecan's anthropologyclass.

Sources

for

"observing" the great apes

in

your classroom

Because so

many

studentsareeager

and

savvyinternetus- ers,

you

can developlessons that

draw upon

theseinterests

and

skills.

Many

^accredited

^zoos

ⁱⁿ

our

nation

and

else-

where

have "critter

cams"

trained

on

certain enclosures.

Others

providearepository

of

shortvideoclipsthat

show-

casespecific

animals and/or

species.Students

can

"tour"

many more of

theseon-line

primate

exhibits

than would

be possible

on

a local field trip tojust

one

zoo. Provide

your

classwith a

web

listing

of such

opportunities

and

allow

them

tovisitwith supervision.

As

they do,suggest theykeepalog

of

theapes encountered,^{theactivities}they

see,

and anything

else pertinent to the unit

you

^are

teaching. Planvirtualvisitstovariouszoos

by

usingthelinks

provided

atthe

AZA

site(see

page

8).

A quick

sampling:

•

Zoo

Atlanta'sanimalvideos collection includessix very shortpieces starringgorillas

and orangutans

₍http://

www.zooatlanta.org/

_).

•

The San Diego Zoo's

"Absolutely

Apes"

page

(

http://www.sandiegozoo.org/zoo/

ex absolutely apes.html) featuresseven

orangutans and

threesiamangslivinginanew,lushenvironmentwith

enough room

fortheanimalstoswingfreely.Thiszoo's"ape

cam"

giveson-linevisitors

an opportunity

toobservetheseani-

mals

asthey

go about

theirdailylives.

Page 10

AnthroNotes Volume 29 No.

^1-

Spring 2008

•

The Bronx Zoo

provides accessviaits"Distance

Learning Expeditions." Read about

the

program

"Gorillas^,Gentle GiantsinCrisis"

on

theExpeditionspage (http://bronxzoo.com/bz-education/distancelearning?).

In addition to the

AZA members who

provide access to materials on-line, there areveryusefulresources located at the Great

Ape

Trust

(GAT) web

site ₍http://

www.greatapetrust.org/index.php).Thisparticularsiteis

rich

with

videoclips, readings,

web

links,

and

scientists' reports

on

theirresearchintothe

minds of

^{the great}apes:

bonobos,

chimpanzees

and

orangutans.

An

^entireunitcould be centered

on

this

one

sitealone.

Sue Savage-Rumbaugh, whose

researchfocuses

on

ape

communication,

intelligence,

and

societynarrates avideo

about

Kanzi,a

bonobo, and

other

bonobos

in the wild at

http://www.ted.com/

index.php/talks/view/id/76.

When

this talk

was

filmed,

Kanzi and

theothergreatapesin

Savage-Rumbaugh's

re- search

group

residedatthe

Language

Research

Center on

theAtlanta

campus of George

State University.Sincethen the apes

and

researchers

have moved

to the

Great Ape

Trust

and more

footage

can

be seen atthe

GAT web

site.

Inparticular,she

can be observed wearing

a

mask

while conversingwith a

bonobo,

inorderto

remove any

facial cuesshe

might

inadvertentlyprovideforherresearch sub- ject(http://www.greatapetrust.org/research/srumbaugh/

rumbaugh.php#

^).

Other

resources:

•

Your

students

may be

intrigued

by

thelatestevi-

dence of chimpanzee

intelligence

when

they

watch

aclip titled"FransLanting

on

theFongoli Spear

Hunting Chimps"

athttp://pnmatology.net/.

• If

your

students

want

tolistento

primate

vocal- izations,direct

them

tohttp://pin.primate.wisc.edu/av/

vocals/

where

theywill hear snippets

of

ape

sounds

as well as

sounds made by

a large variety

of monkeys and

otherprimates.

•

Harvard

University'sCognitive

Evolution

Labo- ratorysiteoffers ape

and

other

primate

sounds, images,

and

video

on

^its

Multimedia page

located at http://

www.wih.harvard.edu/

^~

mnkylab/media.html

.

•

A number of

excellentnaturefilms focus

on

great apesin the wild.

Your

school

may

^haveaccess to local or staterepositories that loan

out

copies

of National Geo-

graphicfilms

from

Jane Goodall's legendarycareer.

• Access to a

group of National Geographic

ape

videos with narration

is

provided

at

http://

video.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/animals/

mammals-animals/ apes/ gorilla lowland

tools.html?source=G21]4c&kwid=ContentNetwork¹1008198085

Some of

thevideos

may

bedistressing to

younger

or

more

sensitivestudents.

The

topicscovered

on

the

second

page include short videos

on poaching and

the recent execu- tions

of

gorillasin

Congo.

•

For

students

who want

tolearn

more about

the research

of Roger and Deborah

Foutswithfive

chimpan-

zees

who

were taught

American

SignLanguage,direct

them

tothe

Chimpanzee and Human Communication

Institute

(

http://www.cwu.edu/

^-

cwuchci/

visitor information.html)

and

its

companion

^site,Friends

of Washoe

(

http://www.friendsofwashoe.org/

).

Both

offerphotos,videoclips,

sample

curricula for teachers

and

three

web cams

situated in three different parts

of

the

chimps' home. Even though Washoe

diedin2007,

and

her

companion Moja

in2002, these

web

sitesarewell

worth

a visit

and

provide

information about

^allfiveanimals.

The

printable

"Chimpanzee

FacialExpressions"

hand-out

isa hoot.

CarolynE. Gecanis

an

editorofAnthroNotes

and an

anthropol- ogyteacheratThomasJefferson

High

SchoolforScience

and

Technol-

Page

11