A Study of Group Behavior for Teaching

Diplomarbeit

Zur Erlangung des akademischen Grades

einer Magistra der Naturwissenschaften

an der Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz

vorgelegt von

Katja STADLBAUER

Am Institut für Zoologie

Begutachterin: Dr. Cornelia Franz-Schaider

Graz, 2017

1

Danksagung

Das ich wirklich hier angelangt bin und meinen Magister mache, habe ich sehr vielen Leuten

zu verdanken. Allen voran meinen Eltern, die mich immer unterstützt haben und ohne deren

Hilfe ich nie so viel Zeit und Engagement in mein Studium hätte stecken können. Außerdem

meiner besseren Hälfte, zu dem ich mit jedem Problem kommen, auf dessen Unterstützung

ich immer bauen kann und weil es einfach keine bessere Schulter zum Anlehnen gibt, wenn

mir zwischendurch alles über den Kopf wächst- Danke Bambi.

Jedoch hatte ich nicht nur Hilfe auf der privaten, sondern auch auf der universitären Seite.

Hier gilt ein großer Dank meiner Mentorin Dr. Cornelia Franz-Schaider, die meinen straffen

Zeitplan mit mir durchgezogen hat und mir fachlich immer zur Seite gestanden ist. Außerdem

Fr. Prof. Pia Oberdorfer, die, obwohl sie keinen Nutzen davon hatte, mich bei der Erstellung

der Unterrichtsmaterialien mit Rat und Tat unterstützt hat und immer ein offenes Ohr hatte.

Und abschließend all die Professoren, deren Ermutigung und aufbauende Worte mich immer

wieder angespornt haben, das zu tun was ich seit fünf Jahren tun möchte- Lehrerin werden.

2

Table of Contents

Introduction ……………………..…………………………… 2

1. Group Living Animals

1.1 Defining Groups

1.2 Communication

2. Types of Groups and Types of Communication

2.1 Anonymous Groups

2.1.1 Open Anonymous Groups

2.1.2 Closed Anonymous Groups

2.2 Individualized Groups

3. Benefits and Costs of Group Life

3.1 Benefits of Group Life

3.2 Costs of Group Life

4. Teaching Group Behavior

5. Lesson Overview 7th form AHS

6. Teaching Material

………………………………………..………… 4

………………………………………………….. 5

……………………………….………………... 10

………………………………………………….. 12

………………………………………………….. 13

………………………………………………….. 13

………………………………………………….. 15

………………………………………………….. 18

………………………………………………….. 25

………………………………………………….. 25

………………………………………………….. 28

……………………………………………..…… 30

……………………………..…………………… 34

……………………………..…………………… 35

Conclusion ………………………..………………………… 72

Bibliography ………………………..………………………… 73

3

Introduction

Writing a paper on group behavior of animals that is meant for teachers might seem a bit

irrelevant and decontextualized at first, as animal behavior is only to a very small percentage

part of the Austrian curriculum. Why then focus on an even more specific topic such as group

behavior? The answer to this question is the same as the doubt mentioned beforehand.

Animal behavior is hardly taught at school; however, most children have contact with animals

one way or the other in their everyday life. They meet dogs on the street, pet their friend’s

cat or take their mother’s horse for a walk. Assuming a child would not have any personal

contact with animals, there are still economically useful animals, such as cows and pigs, that

are relevant for these children because they might eat meat. Thus, there is hardly a child

nowadays that has no direct or indirect connection to animals. However, the general

knowledge on these animals and how they live is rather low. Considering that environmental

awareness and animal behavior are both part of the Austrian curriculum, the importance of

teaching behavior, and especially group behavior becomes obvious. Group behavior is not

only relevant because many pets and economically useful animals are social animals, but also

because behavior is an important topic in biology and a certain literacy in this area is necessary

for understanding aspects such as ecology and evolution.

This paper was written to promote and facilitate teaching group behavior in school and

it is split in two halves. The first half is the theoretical knowledge that teachers need if they

intend to teach group behavior. The second half of the paper consists of teaching material for

group behavior. The material was designed for a seventh form AHS, as the seventh class is

only taught biology in Realymnasien and Oberstufengymnasien with additional classes in

biology, physics and chemistry. Therefore, there is more space for individualization of the

topics. Furthermore, the topic and the material is rather challenging, therefore, it is more

suitable for older students. The material was designed as a course with eight lessons that is to

be taught chronologically. However, as not every teacher has the chance to spend eight

lessons on group behavior, material can also be picked out and taught separately.

Before diving in to the theory on group behavior one more aspect is to be discussed.

The paper and the materials within are written in English. That is for the following reason:

4

seeing that the number of schools that teach all subjects in English (EAA) or schools that no

longer have language classes because the language teaching is integrated into the subject

classes (CLIL) is constantly rising, the need for teaching material in English is quite high. With

regards to teaching animal behavior, the material that is available is sufficient but not thrilling,

however, the material about behavior in English is literally non-existent. Therefore, this paper

intends to fill a small piece of this hole and provide teachers in schools that teach biology in

English with some material on group behavior of animals.

5

1. Group Living Animals

Theoretically, animals have an unrestricted potential of reproduction and, therefore,

descendants. However, under natural circumstances, resources such as food, water, sexual

partners, parental care, social assistance and breeding places are limited and provide

restrictions in reproduction growth. Due to genetic variations, such as random mutations,

some individuals are in certain habitats more successful in obtaining resources than others

and so more successful in competition for limited resources, and these individuals have then

better chances of survival and reproduction, or a higher “fitness” (Darwin 1859). Discussing

fitness, it is important to distinguish between direct fitness, or an individual’s own

reproductive success, and indirect fitness, which is to be discussed later in this paper. Animals

with a higher fitness than others will survive and reproduce and, therefore, pass on their genes

(Voland 2013). In the next generation, the population will consist to a high percentage of

animals that are better adapted to their environment than others. This is, at least very roughly,

the concept of natural selection that was first described by Darwin in 1859- animals that are

best adapted survive. Therefore, individuals are constantly selected concerning their

adaptiveness and the population is constantly evolving (Darwin 1859).

Behavior is, as are other phenotypic traits, continually selected and selection will favor

behavior that increases fitness. Therefore, if a certain behavioral strategy is “more successful”

in terms of fitness, and if this strategy is heritable, it can spread throughout a population.

Group living is assumed to be one of the behavioral strategies to increase fitness. Whether

flocks of birds, herds of antelopes or swarms of insects, the coordination and cohesiveness

present in these groups are the consequence of selection, as forming groups and interacting

with other animals provides these animals with an advantage and this behavior will, therefore,

become more common. (Manning and Dawkins, 2015). The evolutionary question why

individuals form groups can therefore only be answered by analyzing advantages in natural

selection which will result in fitness benefits in the long run. The term “group”, however, is

rather broad and defined in different ways. Therefore, the next chapter will discuss the term

and attempt to find a definition that can be used for this paper.

6

1.1 Defining Groups

In order to provide the basis for teaching behavior and especially group behavior in school, it

is important to have a working definition what animal groups are and to have a clear

categorization of groups that students can easily understand and use themselves. Therefore,

extensive research was done to provide teachers and students with a clear definition and a

system of grouping that is factually true, but still easy to understand.

If one was to research animal groups or social organizations on the web, the problem

of defining the term becomes obvious right away. Instead of a definition, articles concerning

social animals, eusociality, social behavior and human social behavior are to be found.

Definitions by free dictionaries, such as Farlex’ dictionary state that social organizations are

aggregations of individual animals into integrated groups that are “based on the

interdependence of the animal and the responses to each other”

(www.thefreedictionary.com, 05.04.2017). Rephrased, the meaning of this definition is that

social organizations are a group of distinct individuals that are dependent on each other.

However, the words “integrated” and “interdependence” are not uncontroversial. Integration

means, by definition, the incorporation of individuals into an organization or group as equals

(www.merriam-webster.com, 17.05.2017). Here the question is whether all individuals in a

group of animals are indeed equal and whether there is only one type of group. Furthermore,

it is questionable if individuals in a group or social organizations are really dependent on each

other. If that was the case, animals would not be able to leave a group because they could not

survive by themselves. While group living is indeed beneficial for the individuals in a group, it

is risky to state that they are truly interdependent. In search of a clearer definition of social

organizations and social structure, turning to published texts and well-known researchers

might prove the better alternative. Therefore, the book An Introduction to Animal Behavior

by Manning and Dawkins, Living in Groups by Krause and Ruxton, as well as the texts “The

Analysis of Social Organization in Animals” by J.P Scott and “Interactions, Relationships and

Social Structure” by R. A. Hinde were investigated.

Scott published his article “The Analysis of Social Organization in Animals” in 1956 in which

he generally focuses on the methods to analyze social organizations, but also discusses social

7

organizations themselves. Scott states that “Social organizations may be analyzed in terms of

social relationships. Such a relationship is defined as a regular and repeatable behavior

between two or more individuals” (Scott 1956). As an example, he discusses the pecking order

in hens. He further argues that social organizations are not solely determined by social

behavior, but social behavior is organized by learning and habit formation. The specific

organization types that he discusses are as follows: Simple aggregations, in which animals

have contactual behavior, which means that they have bodily contact. Although this

organization type is very common, “the occurrence is apt to be irregular and nonspecific”

(Scott 1956) as they rather depend on environmental conditions than on social relationships.

The next organization that Scott discusses, is characterized by a Dominance-Subordinate

Relationship, which he states is most common in vertebrates and based on agonistic behavior.

While one animal is threatening or attacking, the other is passive and submissive. Other

organizations are characterized by Leader-Follower Relationships, Sexual Relationships, Care-

Dependency Relationships, Mutual Care Relationships, for example the mutual grooming in

primates, and Mutual Defense Relationships. Scott also states that the number of

relationships in a group mirrors the complexity of a group. Therefore, if only one relationship

of the ones discussed beforehand is present in a group, the social organization is a very simple

one. Scott argues that social organizations in animals are defined by the type and number of

relationships mentioned above. Therefore, the term “social organization” refers for him to the

study of social behavior and how this behavior is organized. He even calls social organization

“The study of social organization of behavior”. Even though Scott discusses some aspects of

social organization, such as relationships not only within groups but also between different

groups, e.g. in howler monkeys or gibbons that howl to maintain daily contact between groups,

which other texts do not discuss, some of his views, for example on aggregations, are outdated

and his concept is not suited for this paper.

Another well-known text about social organizations is Hinde’s article “Interactions,

Relationships and Social Structure” (Hinde, 1976) in which he discusses the social

relationships of non-human primates. He states that in every group the social structure can

be described in three levels (Fig. 1): Interactions between individuals work as the basic

element of social structure; they are described by the content of the interaction (what are

they doing) and the quality (how they do it) and they have to involve at least two individuals.

8

Furthermore, interactions occupy only a limited time span and are characterized by the

pattern of muscular contraction, or in terms of consequence, for example an interaction that

features aggressive behavior. In order to fully understand interactions, it is important to

analyze the vocal, as well as the non-vocal signals that are used. In addition, interactions are

influenced by the individuals’ relationships with each other. Relationships are the second level

and involve several interactions of two individuals that know each other. Hinde states

“Because the individuals are known to each other, the nature and course of each interaction

is influenced by the history of past interactions between the individuals concerned, and

perhaps also by their expectations for interactions in the future.” (Hinde, 1976). Therefore,

analysis of relationship requires research over time. In addition, interactions are not only

Figure 1: Figure from Hinde 1976 illustrating the different levels of social organization (Hinde, 1976)

9

influenced by past interaction with the same individual, but also with other individuals. Thus,

the behavior of an adolescent rhesus monkey to an adult male might be affected by past

encounters with other adult males. This can also be called a “relationship between categories

of individuals” (Hinde, 1976), and is a weak usage of the concept of relationship in comparison

to a series of different interactions with individuals. Last but not least, it is important to make

a distinction between individuals that have a history of interactions and those that have a

generalized pattern of behavior, for example the mother-infant relationship. However, in both

cases, the relationship is characterized by the content and the quality of the interactions, as

well as the pattern when it occurs. While the levels of interaction and relationship have

primarily dealt with pairs of individuals, the focus shifts now towards the structure of groups.

Before discussing the main points of the structure of groups, it is important to highlight the

different meanings that “structure” might have. On the one hand, when describing a group

and talking about the quality, content and the patterning of the relationships in a group, one

is talking about the surface structure of a group. If the focus is, on the other hand, on the

patterning of relationships that are independent of the individuals of a group, then the

concept of structure is used. Therefore, structure is a generalization that is made after

analyzing the surface structure and focuses on patterns, quality and content of relationships

that have regularities in different individuals and societies. Finally, there is also the deep

structure which is concerned with the steadiness of social structures and the dynamic aspects

of relationships. While Hinde’s text provides important background-information on the topic

of social structure which is relevant for teachers and, therefore, definitely worth reading,

there is still no suggestions for an easy-made distinction of different types of groups.

Krause and Ruxton (2002), on the other hand, state that generally “searching for a perfect

all-encompassing definition of grouping can easily result in a sterile list of criteria that are hard

to apply and often rather arbitrary. Given the great diversity of animal grouping behavior, it

seems less important to find a definition that can be applied rigidly to all cases, rather than

developing operational definitions of grouping […].” (Krause and Ruxton, 2002). Nevertheless,

a certain degree of closeness in space and time is a prerequisite for grouping, although the

distance may vary between species and in different situations (foraging versus presence of

predation). In addition, animals in social groups are brought together by social attraction,

meaning that they actively seek proximity instead of co-occurring on the same location

10

because of environmental conditions (Krause and Ruxton, 2002). This aspect is also covered

by Manning and Dawkins (2015).

Manning and Dawkins state that all animals are social, at least for a certain part of their

lives, for example during mating (Manning and Dawkins, 2015). Therefore, social organizations

are not restricted to highly social animals such as bees or wolves, but also include, for example,

tigers, who generally hunt and live alone. The only text in which this perspective was also

mentioned is Krause and Ruxton (2002). The way in which members of a species or group

interact with one another, then decides the type of social organization. Female elephants, for

example, live in family units for up to 50 years and visibly know and react to each other

individually. Therefore, this social organization can be called ‘society’. On the other hand,

schools of fish or flocks of birds have a less complex organization, although they might as well

stay together for months. In general, social organizations can be species-specific and rigid, as

it is the case with numerous social insects, or, on the other hand, rather dynamic and varied

with different conditions such as in vertebrates. The only restriction to Manning and Dawkins’

concept is the response to each other. Therefore, they do not consider fruit flies that

accumulate on a rotten fruit as a social organization, as they are rather attracted to the food,

than to each other (Manning and Dawkins, 2015). The information by Manning and Dawkins

is detailed and accompanied with numerous examples; only a clear definition of types of

groups, is still missing and will, therefore, be investigated in the main discussion of this paper.

Before the main discussion of this paper, including the different types of groups, can be

started, there is one more aspect to be worked on- communication. Regardless whether

animals live in solitary or as a group in any kind of social organization, all of them share the

need for communication. Therefore, it is beneficial to include the topic of communication in

the general discussion of types of groups. Thus, every group that is to be discussed in this

paper, is also analyzed on its way of communicating.

11

1.2 Communication

Definition

Tomecek (2009) offers in his book Animal Behavior: Animal Communication the following

definition: Communication in general, is the sharing and passing on of information between

individuals by using signals, such as sound or motion. The ability of sharing information is a

vital survival tool -without communication, acquiring food, staying save, mating and the

protection of territory would be hardly possible (Tomecek 2009). Sometimes, however, there

are cases where the question “What is communication?” is more difficult to answer. Foraging

ants, for example, lay a scent trail from their nest to food sources, in order for their nest mates

to follow it. However, a small snake, Leptopyphlops, does the same - it follows the scent trails

back to the nest, where it feeds on the brood of the ants. While there is little discussion

whether the ants are communicating with each other via chemical signals marking the scent

trail, it is more difficult to decide, whether the ants are communicating with the snake or vice

versa. The reason is not that communication is interspecific, but rather that the ants do not

only derive no benefit, but are instead harmed by the snake’s response. The ants evolved the

communication via scent trails, because it facilitates recruiting other workers to a discovered

food source. The snake using these scent trails are a disadvantage of the signaling system,

however, provided that snakes are rare, the benefits of the communication system outweigh

the occasional disadvantage (Tomecek, 2009).

However, even if both parties benefit from communication, the definition still varies

depending on which line of argumentation one is following. Communication can be seen as “a

process by which the behavior of an individual affects the behavior of others” (Altmann, 1962).

Then every posture and little movement is defined as communication. On the other hand,

Hinde and Rowell (1962) classify only signals that have evolved especially for the reason of

communication as visual signals (cited in Manning and Dawkins, 2015). While the focus in this

paper is on specially evolved signals, animals indeed do receive a great deal of information the

way Altmann (1962) describes. Therefore, body posture or manner of moving conveys

important information apart from, for example, threat movements that an animal may display.

12

Channels

Communication can happen on many different channels, of which two are the visual and the

auditory channel. These two channels are very common and in order to understand the

benefits and costs of different channel, these two channels are to be explored here. Scott

(2005), for example, states that visual communication requires that the receiver and the

sender of information see each other. Therefore, the signals are easy to locate and can be

changed rapidly, which allows quick changes in the message an animal is sending. On the other

hand, the level of localization can result in a higher risk of predators perceiving the signal. In

addition, visual signals are ineffective in the dark and in dense vegetation. Therefore, visual

communication is most effective for short-range communication (Scott, 2005). Sound, on the

other hand, can be used during the day, but also in the dark. It is broadcasted in all directions,

can be received by numerous animals at the same time and has a high potential for fast signal

change. Furthermore, sound travels faster than, for example chemical signals and it can be

used in different mediums such as water, soil and air (Tomecek, 2009).

These examples illustrate that animals have a high diversity of ways to respond to an

external stimulus which results in a high diversity of signals and channels of communication.

Animals who rely on vision to detect prey or find their way are often communicating by visual

signals. On the other hand, blind workers of termite colonies who never leave their tunnels,

often rely on tactile and chemical communication. However, mammals, for example, use

different modalities depending on the external circumstances. Therefore, they use smell, sight

and hearing at a distance, but tactile communication for social aspects (Manning and Dawkins,

2015).

After stating differing opinions on what animal groups are and how animal

communication can be interpreted, the following chapter will discuss three different types of

groups, including examples of animals that live in this type of group including a short

description of communication typical for specific groups, in order to give this theoretical

concept more meaning.

13

2. Types of Groups and Types of Communication

After exploring the definition of an animal group, a clear distinction into certain types of

groups is still necessary. The Lexica of Biology provides this distinction: the distinction into

individualized and anonymous groups, as well as in open and closed societies. However, as

the site functions as a lexicon, the texts in it are neither elaborated nor supported with enough

examples. And this is where other texts, such as Manning and Dawkins book come into play.

An Introduction to Animal Behavior (2015) is well elaborated, equipped with illustrating

examples and numerous supporting information. In addition to Manning and Dawkins, other

authors such as Tomecek, Voland, Alcock and Kappeler will be drawn on to gain supportive

arguments and clear examples to support the general differentiation from Spektrum.de.

Describing groups of animals simply by size is not enough, as the groups differ in types of

interactions and their organizational complexity. In the lexica of Biology on Spektrum.de it is

stated that a group of animals is a term for a temporary or lasting aggregation of individuals,

in which individuals do not necessarily have to have social relationships, however they behave

like a whole and have, therefore, benefits compared with an individual. A group without social

relationships are, for example, fruit flies that accumulate for mating. In comparison to fruit

flies that form an aggregation a food source, however, they are a group because they are

attracted to each other rather than towards an inanimate object. These types of groups are

called anonymous groups, while individualized groups feature social relationships and

individuals that recognize each other, as well as sub-groups of often related animals

(www.spektrum.de/lexikon/biologie, 17.05.2017, 1999).

14

2.1 Anonymous Groups

2.1.1 Open Anonymous Groups

Anonymous groups can be “open” or “closed”, depending on whether strange animals can

easily join the group or not. A typical “open anonymous group” is represented by bird flocks,

where birds of the same and of other species can effortlessly join. Fish swarms follow the same

principle. These groups are only connected by the benefit of many coordinately moving

animals, however, their level of synchrony can be astonishingly high, which means that the

animals move spatially and timewise closely coordinated. Open anonymous groups can be

formed for a limited amount of time, during a certain phylogenetic stage or for a lifetime (Biegl,

2014).

The ultimate (evolutionary) cause for forming open anonymous groups are numerous.

Voland lists three main advantages of group living in anonymous groups in comparison to

living solitarily: reduced predator pressure, enhanced foraging and benefits for mating (Voland,

2002). If a high number of animals moves with great synchrony, it is challenging for predators

to concentrate on a specific animal (confusion

effect). In addition, the swarm might seem like one,

large animal and, therefore, even scare them away.

Another advantage of forming an open group is the

fact that more animals on the lookout increase the

chance of detecting predators. Furthermore, the

chance of being the prey is statistically lower for

each individual if many animals occupy the place

(dilution effect) (Voland, 2002).

In addition to avoid being the prey, mating is also facilitated by being part of a group,

as the possibility of meeting a sexually mature partner is extremely high. Moreover, foraging

is facilitated. As feeding is a basic need, most often the largest percentage of time is spent on

foraging or looking out for food. Therefore, animals in groups communicate location of food

to each other by using body motions, calls or chemical trails. Finally, for fish swarms, for

Figure 2: A Flock of Starling

15

example, swimming is easier as the resistance of the water is lower in a group than for an

individual on its own (www.spektrum.de/lexikon/biologie, 17.05.2017, 1999).

The examples above are only a few to illustrate some of the benefits that groups might

have and other types of groups have often different advantages and disadvantages. However,

as the cost and benefit calculation of living in a group is of such importance, at the end of this

chapter, there will be a discussion that focuses solely on the advantages and disadvantages of

groups. This argumentation, on the other hand, will continue with an exploration of an

illustrating example of open anonymous groups- namely fish swarms.

A species of fish that is very well-known for its large schools is the pacific herring, or

Clupea pallasii. The pacific herring,

however, is one of the species that only

gather in certain stages in open groups. The

larvae and juvenile fish spend the first

summer close to the shore and in shallow

waters. In fall, the fish move into deep

water and join after 2 to 3 years the

populations of mature herring. Adult

herring live in schools that can consist of

several million fish and are some kilometers long and they forage in open offshore and coastal

waters (www.pacificherring.org, 17.05.2017, 2014-2015).

Communication in Open Anonymous Groups

Fish have different ways to communicate- among others sound, mechano- and

electrocommunication. Sound might seem surprising at first, however, water is surprisingly an

even better medium for sound than air, as sound travels significantly faster in it- “A typical

sound travels through the air at about 1,170 feet/second (340meters/second); in water it

moves about four times faster” (Tomecek, 2009). While on land many objects deflect and

absorb sounds, sound waves move more easily in water. Sea-creatures use water for long-

distance communication not only because of the fast travel of sound in water, but additionally

because light attenuates in the sea very quickly. Thus, marine animals cannot clearly see

objects that are more than a few meters away (Tomecek, 2009).

Figure 3: A School of Pacific Herring

16

Secondly, fish also use mechano- and electrocommunication. For swarm fish

mechanoreceptive cells are of even higher importance than electrocommunication, as they

help to perceive currents and water movement, and therefore regulate the distance to other

fish and enable fast reactions to others’ movement (Kappeler, 2006). Bernd Kramer (Kramer,

1996) researched the topic of communication in fish and came to some astonishing results.

While most organisms respond to strong electric shocks, some aquatic vertebrates specialize

in using feeble electric currents for orientation, communication and object location. Only

those who use electric currents for communication are called electroreceptive. All

electroreceptive fish have specific organs with electroception cells that are, in addition to

mechanoreceptive cells, part of the lateral line system. While mechanoreceptive cells are for

maintaining the equilibrium, detecting rotation, gravity and water currents alongside the body,

electroreceptive cells are sensitive to electric field gradients. In general, there is a distinction

between active and passive electroreceptors. While passive ones detect electric fields of the

environment, active electroreceptors detect electric fields generated by the fish itself. All

living organisms generate electric fields by regulating ionic balance and, in animals, using

nerve and muscle cells. Therefore, electroreception has three possible functions: orientation,

detection of prey and electrocommunication. While passive receptors are used for detecting

prey, orienting in environmental fields and detecting communication signals, active

electroreceptors are used for sending communication signals and detecting objects. The latter

one is achieved by using the reflection of a fish’s own electric signals. Electrocommunication,

on the other hand, is the sending and receiving of electric fields. The receiving end then

interprets the waveform, delay and frequency of the electric current. The big advantage of

communication via electric fields is that these fish can hunt prey which they cannot see, for

example prey that is buried in sand, and that they can themselves avoid diurnal predators. In

addition, they can detect the presence and the electrical properties of an object (Kramer,

1996).

2.1.2 Closed Anonymous Groups

Closed anonymous groups, on the other hand, are the other type of anonymous groups and

are characterized by the fact that strange animals cannot easily join the group. Often they

17

derive from related animals, who show cooperation and altruism towards members of their

family, but reject other individuals. In order to exclude strangers, members need a signal that

enables them to differentiate between fellow group members and outsiders

(www.spektrum.de/lexikon/biologie, 17.05.2017, 1999). In closed anonymous groups,

generally most often communication using chemicals is used for distinguishing.

Communication using chemicals is very closely connected to the sense of smell, as scents

consist for the largest percentage of chemicals. Chemicals that are used to send signals are

also called pheromones, and they are picked up by another animal’s olfactory receptors which

are usually found in the nose. Pheromones are communication tools for fish, insect and most

mammals for example to mark territory, find a mate, to help group members find food and,

as mentioned before, to distinguish whether an animal is a member of one’s group or not

(Tomecek, 2009).

Two examples of closed anonymous

groups are brown rats and insect societies, for

example bees, termites and ants. For this paper,

the focus in closed anonymous groups will be on

insect societies, as they feature the most

complex type of animal’s social organization-

namely eusociality. Voland (2013) writes that

eusociality is characterized by a reproductive division of labor and, therefore, the most

extreme example of sociality. In practice this means that a certain percentage of animals in a

group form so called “working casts”. These animals are sterile and their only purpose is to

rise the reproductive output of their colony by assisting reproductive members, or the

“reproductive cast”. The question is, are the animals that are being discussed not following

the principle of natural selection? Studies have shown that they do, because the inclusive

fitness of each individual consists of direct plus indirect fitness. As already mentioned, direct

fitness is the survival and reproduction of an animal. Indirect fitness, on the other hand,

reflects the role that relatives have when discussing genetic fitness. This concept suggests that

even if an individual cannot reproduce, its genes are still passed on if its relatives reproduce.

Therefore, altruistic acts that cause disadvantages for personal survival and reproduction

chances make sense, if by refraining from reproduction an individual increases the number of

Figure 4: A Group of Brown Rats

18

offspring a family member can produce. This concept is known as kin selection- favoring a

relative’s reproductive success over one’s own. Therefore, the mechanism behind eusociality

is kin-selection. The most prominent examples are found within the order hymenoptera such

as ants and bees. Their queen is diploid and all males are haploid because they develop out of

unfertilized eggs. If the queen mates with a male, all female offspring have the same father

chromosome number but only with a chance of 0.5 to have the same motherly chromosome

number (because the queen is diploid). This is shown by the relationship coefficient r which is

0.5 between queen and worker bee. Consequently, female worker bees are more closely

related to their siblings (r=0.75) than to their own offspring (r=0.5). Therefore, if the worker

cast wants to pass one their genes, it is more effective to help the reproductive cast take care

of the closely related offspring than to reproduce themselves (Voland, 2013).

In hymenoptera, honey bees (Apis melifera) have developed a unique way of visual

communication, namely the honey bee dance. As discussed beforehand, bee colonies are

divided into different casts with different roles- and one of them are scouts. Scouts are sent

out to look for food, and if they find some, they return with samples of the food. Attracted by

the smell, other bees join the scout who then starts to dance the “waggle dance”, which,

according to Tomecek (2009), communicates the distance and the direction of the food source.

He describes the dance as follows:

“The waggle dance is done in the shape of a figure eight. The scout bee does the dance along

the vertical surface of the honeycomb. The dance has three parts. It starts with a circle on one

side and then a straight section in the middle, followed by a circle in the opposite direction on

the other side. While the bee is moving along the straight section, she will rapidly shake her

abdomen back and forth. This is the “waggle” part of the dance.” (Tomecek, 2009)

The dance has two main parts: the straight part concerns the direction of the food and

the time the dance takes indicated the distance. If the line is straight, the food is in the same

direction as the sun. If the waggle is tilted 30 degrees on the right of the vertical, the food is

directed 30 degrees to the right of the sun. In addition, the time the dance takes is crucial- if

the food source is nearby the dance will only take about 2 seconds, if it is several kilometers

away, the dance is rather slow and might take up to 8 seconds. After following the whole

dance, the other worker bees start off to collect the food (Tomecek, 2009).

19

Figure 5: Waggle Dance

Other social insects that live in closed anonymous societies, such as ants and termites are, on

the other hand, specialist concerning chemical communication- a single signal released by

their queen influences the actions of the entire colony. Examples of the queen controlling the

colony are special pheromones to mate with the drones, as well as queen pheromones

preventing other females from mating and releasing pheromones for attacking intruders. The

pheromone for attack is also called “alarm pheromone”. Pheromones are also used in groups

to indicate other members where food sources are located. Scout ants, for example, lay trails

of pheromones from a suitable source of food back to the nest. Other ants then follow the

trail, leaving pheromones as well, which increases the intensity of the chemical signal

(Tomecek, 2009).

2.1.3 Individualized Groups

Individualized groups are the third and last type of

group to be discussed in this paper. In difference to

anonymous groups they are always closed. While

closed anonymous groups are the most complex

type of social organization in arthropods,

individualized groups are the highest developed

social organization in vertebrates. Both groups,

Figure 6: Elephants form individualized groups

20

however, generally derive from a family or a mother that stays together with her offspring.

Even in more complex groups of mammals either males, females or all animals are related to

each other and form the core of the unit. In order to avoid inbreeding and to secure a genetic

exchange, related females are often claimed for a limited amount of time, protected and

defended by a non-related male against other males, which then have to search for another

group of females. In other cases, such as in some primate species, male animals stay in the

group and female animals in heat change groups. Individualized groups have only been

observed in mammals and birds; however, concerning birds, only a few species or groups, such

as the woodhoopoe (Phoeniculus purpureus), live in individualized groups. More often they

live in pairs or anonymous groups. Generally, members of individualized groups always

recognize each other, and each individual has a specific behavioral repertoire that other

members know and react to. This is one of the most important characteristics of individualized

groups (www.spektrum.de/lexikon/biologie, 17.05.2017, 1999).

A mammal species that lives in

individualized groups and is very well

known for its wide range of behavioral

patterns and its complex communication is

the wolf. Wolves live in packs which,

typically for individualized groups, consist

of an extended family. In packs, there is a

distinct social order or hierarchy, meaning

that some individuals are more dominant than others. This hierarchy provides the group with

order and distributes differing roles among the individuals. The alpha individuals (male and

female), for example, directs the action of the group and the individuals within, and gives cues

to the group members in times of crisis. By communicating their alpha status to the group

members, there is no constant fight about ranks, which saves the individuals energy, avoids

injuries and reduces aggression within the group. Usually there is one breeding pair, the

mother being the glue that holds the pack together. The breeding pair is most often in the role

of the alphas, while the rest of the pack is organized in betas, mid-ranking wolves and the

omegas. However, mid- and lower-ranking positions are, to a certain degree, exchangeable.

Individuals of a pack know each other, form relationships, nurture their injured and sick and

Figure 7: Wolves have complex communication

21

share the work of educating their next generation (www.livingwithwolves.org/about-wolves,

10.04.2017, 2017)

Figure 8: Body language wolves

In a pack, cooperative hunting and coordination of group life, as well as maintaining social

stability and status are part of the daily routine and can only be achieved via communication.

While wolves use a range of different vocalizations, as well as olfactory signals (scent marks),

most communication within the group is displayed by body language. Body language is often

called “visual display”. Visual displays include body movement and posture, facial expression

and tail and ear positioning and can serve different purposes, such as expressing and

maintaining status (Tomecek, 2009).

Body language can be accompanied by vocalization to reinforce the message, but this

is not a necessary. Often a direct stare of a dominant animal and the corresponding averted

glance from the subordinate wolf are enough to keep the individual status understood.

Therefore, displays of dominance and submission are rarely aggressive, as subordinate

individuals quickly adopt submissive postures. On the other hand, assertive aggression might

ensue if no willingness to submit is demonstrated (www.livingwithwolves.org/about-

wolves/language, 10.04.2017, 2017).

A well-known visual display is the threat display (Tomecek, 2009). It can be used, as

the name indicates, if an animal feels threatened and it functions as a warning (Fig.10). A well-

known example are dogs or wolves that are growling and baring their teeth against a threat.

Animals use threat displays to indicate that they are ready to fight if the intruder will not back

22

off. On the other hand, threat displays are not only used for defensive purposes, but for

hierarchy as well. In groups, threat displays are often used to assert dominance from a higher-

to a lower- ranking animal. The lower-ranking animal then responds with submissive displays

which indicate that they know their rank and intend to avoid conflict (Tomecek, 2009). In the

example below, the less dominant wolf responses to the dominant males by presenting its

rump (Fig.9) in order to appear smaller and reduce aggression of the dominant wolves.

Figure 9: Submissive behavior

On the other hand, by stretching their front legs out and raising their hind quarters up, wolves

seek to play with pack mates. This body position is also called the “play bow” and describes

another type of visual display (Fig.11). It can lead to a game of chase or jaw sparring and high

energy-duels, which hone wolves’ physical skills and fortifies status and bonds

(www.livingwithwolves.org/about-wolves/language, 10.04.2017, 2017).

Figure 11: The Play Bow

Figure 10: Threat display

23

However, visual displays do not always include the whole body or body positioning,

but also positioning of ears and tail, as well as mimic. Therefore, perked up ears in addition to

a straight and slightly upward tail indicate dominance. If such a dominant wolf then slightly

curls its lips and reveals a few teeth, often submissive wolves will immediately respond by

licking the nose of the dominant wolf to help avoid escalation and diffuse tension

(www.livingwithwolves.org/about-wolves/language, 10.04.2017, 2017).

In addition to visual communication and body language, wolves also communicate via

scent by using pheromones. Tomecek (2009) states that, in comparison to visual

communication, pheromones have the advantage that they take less effort to produce, can

be used in the dark, and last for several hours. That said, they work over a span of time, while

visual displays only communicate the moment they are performed. In addition, the

communication is “encoded”, therefore, most often other species and especially predators

cannot encode the information. On the other hand, pheromones are space-bound, meaning

that they only work where an animal placed the scent and if another animal comes by.

Exceptions are wind or flowing water that transports the scent (Tomecek, 2009).

Wolves use chemical communication, among else, to mark territory. A family group of

wolves, i.e. a pack, defend their territory to protect their resources in competition with other

packs. To decrease fights, wolves, and animals in general, mark their territory boundaries

using scent marks (Fig.12). These are unique to every animal and last for a rather long time.

For mammals, the most common way to mark territory is spraying urine, this is also the case

for wolves. However, other mammals can also have scent glands in other parts of their bodies,

such as the paws or the head. Therefore, these animals rub their glands on the object their

want to mark (Tomecek, 2009).

24

Figure 12: Marking territory

Discussing three major types of groups will hopefully provide teachers who are to teach the

material in the second half of this paper the sufficient background knowledge they might need.

Even if that is not the case, the information above might at least prove a valuable starting

point for further research. As mentioned beforehand, one important aspect of group life has

only been shortly touched yet, and therefore still needs some elaboration. The aspect of costs

and benefits of group life is to be discussed in the next chapter, after which the more practical

part of this paper will follow.

25

3. Benefits and Costs of Group Life

Discussing the advantages and disadvantages of group life requires information how animals

that normally live in groups, would be off on their own, which can be difficult, because animals

that normally live in groups are rarely observed living solitary in the same or an comparable

environment (Manning and Dawkins, 2015). Therefore, comparison can be problematic. In

order to discuss the advantages, information is hence drawn from experimental evidence,

natural-occurring variations within species and species-species comparison (Manning and

Dawkins, 2015).

3.1 Benefits of Group Life

Protection against predators

Four eyes see more than two, and six see more than four. This old saying is especially true for

social animals and otherwise known as the “Many Eyes Hypothesis”. The earlier danger in

form of a predator is spotted, the higher are the chances of survival for the individual.

Consequently, if more animals are on the lookout, the probability to detect danger early on,

and, therefore, the chances of survival, are significantly higher. Subsequently, if numerous

animals divide the task of vigilance between them, each individual can spend more time on

feeding or other activities. Thus, for example birds in larger groups, look up less and feed at

higher rates than birds on their own or in smaller groups do (Fig. 13). Still, there is an

advantage of detecting the danger oneself, as these animals are faster in taking off than their

feeding colleagues. Therefore, the possibility of “cheating” and letting the others do the

vigilance while only feeding oneself can be a disadvantage (Manning and Dawkins, 2015).

However, it seems that there exists a cheater detection system by avoiding group mates which

invest less in vigilance.

26

After the danger is spotted, animals in social groups

profit from their social organization due to two effects,

namely the dilution and the predator confusion effect

(Voland, 2013). The already mentioned dilution effect,

which is important in anonymous groups, is solely statistics;

it suggests that in an aggregation of animals, the chance of

being the prey is less likely the more animals the group

consists of. As the motivation of the predator is limited,

other animals are likely to escape after prey has been hunted down. The predator confusion

effect (Fig.14), on the other hand, describes the effect that numerous moving animals have

on the senses of a predator. If predators are hunting a big herd of zebras, the collective

movement makes it difficult for the predators to pick individual prey from the whole herd, as

the movements creates a sensory overload. The pattern or color of the fur intensifies this

effect (Voland, 2006). In addition, the combined effort of numerous animals to defend the

group or offspring against predators is more likely to pay off than the attempt of one individual

(Manning and Dawkins, 2015).

Figure 14: Flock of birds illustrating the predator confusion effect

Figure 15: Flock of seagulls hunting together

Figure 13: Geese vigilance and foraging

27

Enhanced Foraging

However, group life is not only beneficial for the prey, but also for predators. If several

individuals accumulate in search for prey, there is a considerable decrease in the amount of

time that is necessary to detect it. This effect is called enhanced foraging (Fig.15). Black-

headed seagulls, for example, hunt in groups. The more seagulls accumulate and are on the

lookout for food, the easier it is to detect prey. In addition, even the first individual to find

food, benefits from hunting in groups, as attacking simultaneously confuses the fish and

makes them more vulnerable. Therefore, each individual is more successful in feeding (Voland,

2013). This benefit is also used by wolves (Canis lupus) and other social carnivores, e.g. lions

(Panthera leo), in terms of cooperative hunting of large prey. Strategies can involve some

individuals driving prey to others who are hidden in cover, or, for example to take turns to run

the prey down to the point of exhaustion. In spotted hyenas (Crocuta crocuta), for example, the

size of the pack decides the size of the prey. When they set out in large packs, they tend to

hunt zebras, while smaller packs go for wildebeest. (Manning and Dawkins, 2015).

Protection against Infanticide

Another example of benefits derived from group life is also known from lions, i.e. the

protection against infanticide males (Fig.16). Males of several vertebrates, such as lions, try to

kill the young of the female once they take over a new pride. This is due to the fact that the

females are infertile as long as they are nursing their offspring. Therefore, the males try to kill

the young which are not their offspring in order for the females to become fertile again and

subsequently being able to reproduce themselves and pass on their own genes. For the

females, on the other hand, the loss of their offspring is a tremendous risk to their fitness,

therefore, they developed counter strategies. One of these counter strategies it to get

together in groups to be more effective in preventing males from approaching, or in defending

their young if an attack should happen (Voland, 2013).

28

Figure 16: female lions protecting their cubs against a strange male

3.2 Costs of Group Life

Although there is a vast number of benefits to group life, the number of animals that live

solitary and not as a social organization indicate that there are costs of group life as well. While

foraging might be easier in a group, there is increased competition once it is found. While the

group size might protect the individuals from being hunted down, a considerable number of

animals is also more likely to be detected by predators. Although in a group it is easier to

defend against infanticide males, the risk of cannibalism and mixing of young is tremendously

higher. In addition, cuckoldry or the risk of passing on diseases is also to mention (Manning

and Dawkins, 2015).

Common swallows (Hirundo rustica) are a good example to illustrate the problem of

diseases and parasites in colonies. Common swallows suffer from a considerably higher risk to

be infect with parasites such as mites, if they live in large colonies, as they inhabit the same

territory and often have close contact. Young birds that are infected, have an 80% probability

to die before they are fledged and if they manage to survive, they are considerably less healthy

and vital. In addition, the breeding birds have to build a new nest for the second breed, in

29

order to increase the chances of their young to survive, rather than simply mending to and

reconstructing the old nest, which is not only time, but also energy consuming (Voland, 2013).

To sum up, it can be suggested that group life provides significant benefits but

significant costs alike, which are different for each type of social organization. Group life may

not be the optimal choice but rather “making the best of a bad job”. The following two

examples are meant to explain the fine line between disadvantage and advantage:

Cynomolgus monkeys (Macaca fascicularis) live in large groups, although feeding is definitely

more difficult for them in larger than in smaller groups, because the more individuals inhabit

the same territory, the more competition there is for food. Even though more individuals

facilitate the lookout, larger groups of animal are in need of more food, thus, more time is

spent on the lookout and less to rest. In addition, social relaxing behavior, such as grooming,

declines, while aggressive behavior increases. Due to this social stress, the birth rate of

females degenerates and infant mortality amplifies. As large groups are highly

disadvantageous to the monkey, the question arises, why these animals chose this type of

social organization. As enhanced foraging is a rather unlikely explanation, the answer to this

question might be predator pressure. The dilution- and the many eyes effect, predator

confusion effect, in combination with the chance to drive away predators together as a group

may outweigh the disadvantages of large groups.

This is also true for bluegills (Lepomis macrochirus). Bluegills are fish which are nesting

in high density in order to face less predator pressure, as they defend their overlapping

territory together and can, therefore, spend more time caring for their eggs. However, the

anti-predator benefit comes with the risk that neighbors might consume the eggs of the own

nest. In addition, there is also sexual interference during courtship and spawning.

Nevertheless, the benefits seem to outweigh the costs (Manning and Dawkins, 2015).

Examples like these are illustrating and help students understand complex biological

concepts. Therefore, they are very suitable for teaching, which brings us already to the second

part of this paper, namely teaching material for animal behavior and group life. After the

biological input of the first half of this paper, the focus will now swiftly move to as to why

there is a need for teaching group life in school, and then to a teaching project on group life

that was designed for a seventh form AHS.

30

4. Teaching Group Behavior of Animals

Animal behavior and group life are not only incredibly interesting, but teaching students about

these topics is indeed relevant. First, most children have contact with animals in everyday life-

whether it is the dog that they pass on their way to school, or the rabbit that the neighbor or

friend has at home. Therefore, knowing animal behavior and communication is, to a certain

extent, also part of risk management. If a child knows what the tail and ear movement of a

dog might signal, the risk of being bitten is significantly lower. Secondly, many economically

useful animals are still being kept under conditions that are against their nature. As teaching

environmental awareness is part of biology teaching, children should know how these animals

normally live. In order to argue for alternative and more natural ways of keeping animals, the

students have to have arguments why it is important for these animals to have, for example,

social contact and room to move. Thirdly, and most importantly, knowledge about behavior

is necessary for students to understand important aspect of biology, such as ecology and

evolution. Therefore, animal behavior and communication would be an important aspect of

teaching biology. However, for certain reasons social behavior and animal communication

have little space in teaching.

The first reason is that behavior is to be discussed in the sixth form. However, the sixth

form has noticeably more topics than other forms, because in the seventh form biology is only

taught in Realymnasien and Oberstufengymnasien with additional classes in biology, physics

and chemistry (Lehrplan AHS, https://www.bmb.gv.at/schulen/unterricht/

lp/lp_ahs_oberstufe.html, 21.05.2017, 2017). Therefore, the curriculum for the sixth form has

to cover more topics as they are needed for the “Themenkörbe” for the Matura. This is also

the reason why the material is rather sparse and schoolbooks cover the topics of animal

behavior very roughly. However, some biology schoolbooks still cover the topic of animal

behavior and social animals and these are to be explored in the following discussion.

The first schoolbook series that is to be mentioned is Linder Biologie by E. Dorner

(Bayrhuber, Knull, 2006). In the second book of the series there is a chapter on behavioral

biology. However, while the first glance into the book seem very promising, the first pages are

very theoretically and cover, at least for students, abstract concepts, for example behavioral

ontogeny. Throughout the pages it becomes obvious that the book focuses on reasons for

31

behavior, how behavior developed, different types of learning, key stimuli and reflexes- all

interesting topics but rather theoretical and not too closely related to practical and useful

studies of behavior and communication. On the other hand, it has to be mentioned that in the

subchapter before the last, the book discusses quite thoroughly animal cooperation and

competition. And one aspect of this subchapter are social associations. In the beginning, the

different types of groups are briefly explained, and eusociality is also mentioned. However,

there is no elaboration on how these groups are organized or how they function, but the

author continues with hierarchy and territoriality, which are only relevant in some types of

groups. The next subchapter then continues with animal communication. Unfortunately, this

sounds more promising than it is. While in the beginning three channels of communication -

chemical, visual communication, as well as “communication similar to speech”- are introduced,

tactile communication, for example, is not mentioned at all. Furthermore, it is controversial

to phrase electrocommunication as “similar to human speech”. All this information is covered

on one page, while the next page then continues with the well-known and often discussed

honeybee waggle dance. On the other hand, a positive aspect of the book is that there is a

quite detailed discussion on primates and primate behavior at the end of the chapter

behavioral biology. This topic is not only less theoretical, but also more elaborated and

contextualized because it is compared to human behavior.

Another schoolbook that was researched for this paper is Biologie 6 (Hofer, Reiter,

2011) by Hofer and Reiter. While the outline of the book, the coherence of the text and the

practical usage of the information is more thoughtful than in Linder Biologie, the quantity and

quality of information is not completely satisfying. The book starts out with observations that

students could make and questions they might have after their observations, for example

“Why are related bird species singing in a similar way?” This is more realistic and relevant to

students than the theoretical introduction by E. Dorner. Then the book explains what behavior

generally is and how scientist research it. Afterwards, there is a long discussion on learned and

inherited behavior that explains very down to earth and easy to understand the differences

and subtypes. However, when social behavior comes into play, the book seems to lose its

focus. Right after the title, the author goes into territoriality and aggressive behavior. While

both aspects are part of social behavior, there is no context and no explanation of different

forms of social groups in which territoriality, for example, might be important. In addition,

32

there are fewer examples than in the previous pages and more abstract concepts. Very quickly

the focus then switches to human aggressive behavior, which might be interesting in

comparison to animals, however, plays a rather little role in social behavior in animals. After

jumping to possible reasons for war, the author concludes the chapter by discussing treatment

of animals by humans. While this aspects is again relevant and important, the context and the

connection to the other topics seems rather thin. In addition, both books, Linder Biologie and

Biologie 6 by Hofer and Reiter (2011) do neither have experiments about behavior, nor ideas

for observations that students could make, worksheets or ideas for further research on the

student’s behalf.

Bio@school (Pammer, 2006), on the other hand, is very impressive concerning this

aspect. First of all, the photos inside the book are stunning and very colorful. The general

design is more student-friendly and creative. However, as a result, some texts are not as easy

to read, because the background behind the text is very varied. In addition to the more colorful

look, the book also provides summaries about relevant aspects, short tasks for the students

to check whether they have understood certain aspects and ideas for personal research. On

the other hand, the information in the beginning of the book seems, at least on a personal

basis, less interesting. For example, six pages are used to discuss the development of ethology

over the years. While some basic concepts are explained in the course of these pages, the

focus is still on a topic that seems, again on a personal basis, not as important. However, after

these six pages, the book goes back on track and covers aspects such as trade-offs, different

life-styles and life-histories, as well as optimal foraging. Generally, the book seems to touch

on numerous scientific topics, such as cooperation, altruism and dominance, shortly

explaining one term and then switching to the next one. However, the text is always coherent

and provides room for individual development and research. In addition, this book is the first

to also mention sexual selection. On the other hand, there is also a drawback- communication

is not mentioned at all and different types of groups are shortly mentioned but neither

explained nor categorized. Therefore, the book is recommendable for teaching behavior in

general, but not so much for teaching social aspects of group life and communication.

In this discussion on schoolbooks, it has become obvious that schoolbooks have little

material on social animals, group life and animal communication that is relevant, interesting

33

and contextualized. Therefore, there is a need for material if this topic is to be covered in class.

In addition, one aspect has not been discussed yet. The schoolbooks that were researched are

all German school books. However, the number of schools, in which concepts, such as EAA

(Englisch als Arbeitssprache) and CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) are used,

is rising. These schools have either English as a working language in all subjects, or do not

teaching English at all, but integrate the language teaching into the subject classes.

Schoolbooks that elaborate on animal social behavior are rare, but schoolbooks that are

written in English and discus social behavior or behavior in general are non-existent. Therefore,

there is an even greater need of material on animal behavior and social animals in English.

Thus, the following course that teaches group behavior and communication in a seventh form

AHS was designed in English- in order to meet the needs of future teachers in schools that

teach in English.

34

5. Lesson Overview 7th Form AHS

Topic/ Lesson

Content of the lesson

Lesson 1

Introduction to the Topic of Social

Animals

Introduction of the topic

Evolutionary reasons for living in

groups

Benefits and disadvantages of living

in groups

Lesson 2

Types of Groups

Types: open anonymous, open

closed and individualized groups

Examples for types of groups

Which benefits and which costs

apply to which group

Lesson 3

Animal Communication Part I

are animals communicating and

how

what does communication include

Lesson 4

Animal Communication Part II

analyzing video sequences of

wolves and horses concerning

communication

Lesson 5

Interpreting graphs

categorizing, reading, interpreting

and drawing graphs

Lesson 6

Working with Academic Texts I

Reading and understanding an academic text

Focus on register, vocabulary and scientific approach

Reading about Dog-Wolf Behavior

Lesson 7& 8

Conference

Working in groups of 5 on different

texts

Understanding the text and

preparing for a presentation

Giving a presentation

35

6. Teaching Material

Lesson 1- Introduction to the Topic of Social Animals

Step name of the activity

Social form material minutes

1. Introducing myself

Ice-Breaking Game

Teacher- class Board, chalk

2. Introduction to the topic

Guess the topic Short Introduction

Teacher- class Teacher- class

Power Point Board

10

3. Evolutionary dis/advantages of living in groups

Question Answer Game

Whole class Cards with question and answers

10

4. Filling out the mind map

Mind map Group work (groups of three)

mind map 15

5. Comparing the worksheet

Group work (groups of three)

Worksheet with mind map

10

6. Wrap up Teacher- class

36

Lesson 1- Teacher Handout

Introducing Myself

After entering the class, tell the students that I won’t introduce myself like they are used to

by other teachers, but that I will provide them with 3 questions and they have to find the

fitting answers. The first one is very easy but important so they understand the game and so

they have seen my name written down. This activity is not only an ice-breaking game and

makes it easier for the kids to talk to the teacher, it is also a repetition of question forming.

Answers: Katja Stadlbauer, 2810, Mansuul & Quilyo

Questions: What’s your name? How high was the highest mountain you’ve ever climbed?

What’s the name of your horses?

Introducing the topic

The teacher uses a PPT and shows the students slides with social animals. First let the students

describe what they see, very likely they will come up with “animals” right away. Then, let them

dig further and describe which animals they see, how many of them, whether they know how

they live etc. Firstly, it’s a good activation activity, secondly it can be used to check how much

prior knowledge the students have.

Power Point slides for the introduction1:

1 Fig. 17: Wolves, Fig. 18: Herd of zebras, Fig. 19: Cuddling penguins, Fig. 20: A group of elephants, Fig. 21: A swarm of fish

37

After the class guessed the topic social animals, the teacher provides a short introduction to

key aspects like Darwin’s theory of natural selection and fitness, including direct and indirect

fitness). The theory of natural selection is explained using the examples of giraffes: only

mutants with long necks can survive, because they can reach the higher leaves on the tree.

Therefore, only these giraffes can reproduce. After some time, there will only be giraffes with

long necks, thus this is an example of survival of the fittest = animals who are best adapted to

their environment will survive and reproduce. According to this theory, animals that live in

groups must have reasons to do so (otherwise they wouldn’t live in groups) > which are they?

38

Evolutionary benefits and disadvantages of living in groups

The information for the following activity was taken from Voland’s Soziobiologie (Voland,

2013). There is a total of 22 cards (each card printed twice). On each of them a question is

written on the very top of the card. Underneath there is the corresponding answer. Distribute

the cards in class and tell the students to stand up and find a person to talk to. When they

have a partner, they read their question aloud and the other person tries to answer it. If the

answer is correct, the person who answered gets the cards. If the other person doesn’t know

the answer, the answer to the question is explained by the owner of the card. When both

people know both answers to the questions the cards are swapped and the process repeated.

After 15 min of walk and talk, the students go back to their seats. The teacher distributes UNO

cards, one card per students. First of all, the students with cards with the same color belong

to one group (e.g. red, yellow, blue and green). The students of one color work together and

complete the mind map using the information from the card game. After 15 minutes, the

groups are recombined using the UNO cards again- now the groups are made of people with

the same number on their card (e.g. all students with 1 belong to one group). Let the students

compare their mind maps.

The last five minutes are for a general wrap up and to go through the correct solutions for the

mind map.

The cards with the questions and answers:

39

What is the “Predator Confusion Effect”? Explain with the example of zebras.2

If predators are hunting a big herd of zebras, the collective movement makes it difficult

for the predators to pick individual prey from the whole herd, as the movements creates

a sensory overload. This is called the ‘predator confusion effect’. The confusing pattern of

the fur intensifies this effect.

What is the ‘many eyes’ hypothesis?3

The “Many Eyes” hypothesis is an effect of animal groups, such as horses or meerkat, and

describes the effect that the sensory performance of many animals of the same group

accumulate and, therefore, the group is more effective in scanning the environment than

an individual animal.

2 Fig. 18: Herd of zebras 3 Fig.22: Horses vigilance

40

What is one of the main reasons that black-headed seagulls hunt in groups?4

If several individuals accumulate in search for food, there is a considerable decrease in

the time that is necessary to detect it. This effect is called enhanced foraging. Simply

speaking, it is easier for black-headed seagulls to detect prey, if more individuals are on

the lookout. In addition, even the first individual to find food, benefits from hunting in

groups as attacking confuses the fish and makes them more vulnerable. Therefore, each

individual is more successful in feeding.

Why are female lions accumulating in groups?5

Interestingly, female lions do not primarily accumulate to prides to facilitate hunting,

but rather for the safety of their offspring.

Females of one pride breed at the same rates and take turns in taking care of their

offspring. If the pride is taken over by a new male, the cubs are a hindrance to the new

male as the female lions will not mate until their cubs are at least 18 months old.

Therefore, the males attempt to kill

the other male’s offspring as they

are a hindrance to their

reproduction. In groups it is then

easier for female lions to defend

their cubs against infanticide.

4 Fig. 23: Black-headed seagull 5Fig. 16: female lions protecting their cubs against a strange male

41

Which advantage have emperor penguins in the Antarctica when they are organized in

a group?6

Considering the harsh and frigid winter in the Antarctica, forming a cluster and huddling

together can conserve energy reserves extensively. This is necessary for male penguins to

survive without eating for more than 100 days.

Why are young male pied kingfischer assisting with taking care of another male’s

offspring?7

As there are too little female birds in many colonies of pied kingfisher, not every male bird

can reproduce. As a result, young male birds help their parents to hatch and care for their

new offspring in order to increase their inclusive fitness. However, sometimes even not

related male birds offer their help to hatching birds, because they are waiting for the older

male to die due to the high burden of hatching and to take over their place.

6 Fig. :Cuddling emperor penguins 7 Fig. 24: Pied kingfisher

42

What is indirect fitness?

Indirect fitness reflects the role that relatives have when discussing genetic fitness.

Fitness consist of direct Fitness, which is survival and reproduction, and indirect fitness.

This concept suggests that even if an individual cannot reproduce, its genes are still passed

on if its relatives reproduce. Therefore, even if a bird cannot mate and brood, if the parents

or the siblings can, its indirect fitness still increases as its genes are passed on.

Which disadvantage do common swallows have when they are living in colonies?8

Common swallows suffer from a considerably higher risk to be infect with parasites such

as mites, if they live in big colonies and inhabit the same territory. Young birds that are

infected have 80% probability to die before they are fledged and if they manage to survive,

they are considerably less healthy and vital. In addition, the breeding birds have to build a

new nest for the second breed in order to increase the chances of surviving rather than

simply mending to and reconstructing the nest, which is not only time, but also energy

consuming.

8 Fig.25: Common swallow

43

Why are cynomolgus monkeys deprived by living in large groups?9

The more individuals inhabit the same territory, the more competition there is for food.

Even if more individuals facilitate the look out, larger groups of monkeys are in need of

more food, therefore, more time is spent on the lookout and less to rest. In addition, social

relaxing behavior such as grooming declines while aggressive behavior increases if the

group size increases. Due to the social stress,

the birth rate of females degenerated and

infant mortality amplified. The only

explanation for the group size is to combat the

high pressure from predators rather than for

enhanced foraging.

What is the „dilution effect”?10

The idea behind the theory of the dilution effect is a very simple one. If there is an

aggregation of animals, the chance of being the prey, if a predator attacks, is less likely,

the more individuals there are. This is solely statistics and does not concern animal

behavior. In addition, it is beneficial that the motivation of the predators is limited,

therefore, once prey was hunted

down the other animals can

escape.

9 Fig. 26: Cynomolgus monkeys 10 Fig. 21: A swarm of fish

44

What effects does group life have on the life on bluegills?11

Bluegills (fish) that are nesting in high density face less predator pressure as they defend

their overlapping territory together and can, therefore, spend more time caring for their

eggs. However, the anti-predator benefit comes with the risk that neighbors might

consume the eggs of the own nest. In addition, there is also sexual interference during

courtship and spawning.

What is one of the costs of social life considering food?

The more animals cluster together; the more food is necessary to ensure their survival.

While it might be easier to forage, it still has to be shared and often subordinate group

members are exploited by dominant ones.

11 Fig. 27: Bluegills

45

benefits of group lifedisadvantages of group life

examples- how do animals specificly profit from groups

examples- how are animals specifically disadvantaged in

groups

Social Animals

46

2nd Lesson- Types of Groups

Step name of the activity

Social form material minutes

1. Activation Activity

Red and Green Circles12

Teacher-class 10 statements for the teacher Red and green circles for students

15

2. Types of groups theory

Group work Groups of five Venn Diagram13 Texts as input for each group

20

3. Applying knowledge

Fit the Card Teacher-class Cards from the first lesson board

15

Red and Green Circles

This activity is an activation activity to start the lesson. The teacher has a list with ten

statements about different types pf groups. Each student has a red and a green cardboard

circle. When the teacher has read out a statement, the students hold up the green circle if

they think the statement is correct, and the red one if they think it is wrong. After each

statement the teacher gives the correct answer but doesn’t tell too much, so that the students

get curious for the coming lesson. An alternative is that the teacher leaves the answer open

and the exercise is to be repeated at the end of the lesson to check learning progress.

The ten statements are:

Elephants form open groups in which individuals are anonymous.

12 Activity taken from: Dale, Liz (2012). CLIL activities. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 13 Activity taken from: Dale, Liz (2012). CLIL activities. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

47

Female lions accumulate in groups because of infanticide males.

Fish schools and bird flocks are similar in their structure.

Pacific herrings form school of several million fish that are up to seven kilometers

long.

Fish communicate via electricity.

Brown rats are very social animals and form tight bonds with their group members.

Some honey bees are sterile and don’t reproduce.

Water is better suitable for communication using sound than air.

Wolves communicate with body language, chemicals, sound and visual cues.

Pied kingfishers assist other breeding pairs to increase their own chances of

reproduction.

Group Work

The first part of the lesson will be conducted after the following principle:

The students form groups of five. In these groups, they work on a certain topic (open

anonymous, open closed and individualized groups as well two examples of groups, e.g. geese

and bluegills). They get articles concerning their topic and have to read and discuss them. Then

one member of the group stays where the group was as the “table host”, while the others

move to different table hosts. Now each table has a specialist on a topic. One after the other

they explain what their topic was about. While talking, each person fills out the Venn Diagram

below:

48

Individualized

groups

Open anonymous

groups closed anonymous

groups

49

Applying Knowledge about Animal Groups

In the first lesson, the focus was on benefits and disadvantages of groups in general. After this

lesson, that dealt with different types of groups, the students should be able to deduce which

benefits and which disadvantages apply to which groups. Therefore, the teacher writes the

three types (individualized, open anonymous, closed anonymous) on the board and deals out

the cards from the first lesson. Now the students should decide for which group their

dis/advantage-card is of relevance. The teacher can add additional information that was not

on the cards at the end. If there is still time the students should copy the table into their

exercise book, if not they can take a photo and copy it into their exercise book at home.

50

3rd Lesson- Animal Communication Part I

Step name of the activity

Social form material minutes

4. Activation Activity14

Finish the Sentence

Teacher- class Board/ Computer and projector

10

5. Videotelling15

Guilty Dog Teacher-class Group work

Computer and projector: video and questions

10

6. Discussion Questions16

(taken from Viral ELT)

Conversation Questions

In pairs or groups of three

Computer and projector 10

7. Listening 17 Sitting comfortably?

Individual work Computer and projector to play the listening task

5

8. Communication Game

“Would you share your snack with me?”

Pair work 5

9. Animal Communication

Teacher input about animal communication

board 10

14 Activity taken from: Dale, Liz (2012). CLIL activities. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 15 James, Ian. (2014, January 25). “Guilty Dog”. ViralElt. [Online] https://viralelt.wordpress.com/2014/01/25/guilty-dog/ (2016, January 10). 16 James, Ian. (2014, January 25). “Guilty Dog”. ViralElt. [Online] https://viralelt.wordpress.com/2014/01/25/guilty-dog/ (2016, January 10). 17 James, Ian. (2014, January 25). “Guilty Dog”. ViralElt. [Online] https://viralelt.wordpress.com/2014/01/25/guilty-dog/ (2016, January 10).

51

Teacher Handout

Activation Activity- Finish the Sentence

Thinking skills: recalling

Language focus: vocabulary

Language skills: Speaking

Tell students that you want to find out what they remember about the topic of the last lesson.

Write the beginning of a sentence on the board (alternative: project them) and let them finish

the sentences. The teacher writes down relevant keywords on the board. After the questions

for “remembering” the teacher writes down two sentences about the new topic and the

students can guess how the sentence might finish.

Sentences:

Some monkeys have disadvantages in groups because….

In individualized groups…

Animals choose to live in groups because…

The predator…

Female lions…

Open anonymous groups …

Animal communication…

Dogs communicate by…

A channel of communication is…

Afterwards the teacher links the last lesson to the new one, by explaining that animals need

communication whether they live in solitary or as a group, because the ability to share

information, is a vital survival tool -without communication, acquiring food, staying save,

mating and the protection of territory would be hardly possible.

52

Videotelling https://viralelt.wordpress.com/2014/01/25/guilty-dog/ (adapted)

Videotelling is telling the “story” of a video orally. Therefore, the teacher describes the

situation in the video but only gives a few details and the students have to ask questions in

order to get the whole picture. Here, the teacher could start with “a man comes home, has a

look at the floor and starts to look for the culprit”. Now the students ask questions in order to

find out what is strange about the story (eg. It’s a dog). After they guessed the story, go to

viral ELT and watch the video sequence.

After watching the video group your students into pairs or small groups, project the

conversation questions (see below) onto the board and ask them to discuss them. The video

raises the topic of communication between humans and animals. The dog is obviously guilty.

Does the dog communicate with its owner? On which channels are they communicating?

Finally, let the students listen to the recording named “Sitting comfortably”. A person answers

two of the conversation questions and the students can guess which question it is.

Guilty Dog – Questions after watching the video

1. Do you think the dog in the video knows it has done something wrong? Is the dog communicating that he is guilty?

2. On which channels does the dog communicate with its owner? 3. What would you say is communication? 4. Some people say that we often treat animals as if they were human. Is it wrong

to do this? 5. When owners speak to their dogs do you think the dog understands what they

are saying? 6. What do you understand by the saying “Dogs are man’s best friend”? Do you

agree? 7. Apart from the incident shown in the video, what other problems can dogs

cause their owners? 8. Why is it important to train a dog? What does training a dog involve? 9. Which of the following emotions do you think dogs experience: fear, anger,

guilt, love, grief, joy, embarrassment, humor, loneliness? 10. Do you think people who live in the country have a different attitude to animals

from people who live in the city?

53

Listening- Sitting Comfortably?

After the Videotelling Exercise, the teacher goes to ViralELT and plays the recording “Sitting

Comfortably?”. Here the students have to find out which questions (from the ones above) the

people on the recording are answering to.

https://viralelt.wordpress.com/2014/01/25/guilty-dog/ (adapted)

After the videotelling and the listening, the focus is now more on input. The teacher writes

“What is communication?” on the blackboard. Afterwards the next activity is explained:

The students have to solve the exercise in pairs without communicating with each other.

All students on the right side of their desk have to close their eyes, while the teacher projects

the question “Would you share your snack with me?” onto the board. The students on the left

side of the desk read the question, the teacher shuts the projector down and the students on

the right side can open their eyes again. Now the students who have read the question try to

get a bite of their partner’s food, however, they should not communicate with their partner.

If they just take the snack, their partner will probably get angry and protect their food.

However, asking for permission without communication is impossible, as pointing at

something, looking helpless, asking, and miming eating something are all aspects of

communication. Therefore, the goal of the game is the realization that life without

communication would be impossible for humans. And the same goes for animals.

After the game the teacher asks the students for examples of communication and writes

them on the blackboard. They are going to need it for the next lesson.

The last exercise of this lesson is to raise curiosity and motivate them for the challenging task

of communication in the next lesson.

54

Lesson 4- Animal Communication Part II

The focus in this lesson is on animal communication, however, a very practical approach has

been chosen. Therefore, after a short introduction and some teacher input on the different

channels of communication, the students hopefully have the awareness to be able to

recognize communication signals when watching a video sequence of an animal group.

As for what information the teacher could provide for the introduction of the different

channels of communication, see chapter 1.2 and 2 in the first part of this paper.

Step name of the activity

Social form material minutes

1. Communication repetition

Guess the Picture Teacher- class Power Point slides 10

2. Analyzing animal communication

Video Analysis Teacher- class Videos on Youtube 35

3. Wrap up

Guess the Picture

This lesson, the teacher starts with writing the channels of communication on the board

without commenting them and then shows the students pictures of animals. These animals

are communicating, but on which channel? Let the students guess the channel or type of

communication, ask what they already know about this channel and go through the

characteristics of each channel to give them the knowledge they need to analyze the video

sequences.

Possible pictures for the slides:

1. Rhino marking territory

2. Dominant and submissive body language of wolves

55

3. Crickets chirping

4. Mating display by a bird

5. A hissing cat

6. Waggle dance by a honey bee

7. Horses grooming each other

Solution

Visual: (slide 2, 4, 5,6) the receiver and the sender see each other, signals easy to locate, can

be changed rapidly, allow quick changes in the message, higher risk of predators locating the

signal, ineffective in the dark & dense vegetation, most effective for short-range

communication. Visual communication is very broad and common, body language, ear and tail

movement as well as colors and visual threats belong in this category.

Chemical: (slide 1) take less effort to produce, can be used in the dark, and last longer,

communication is “encoded”, space-bound, wind or flowing water transports the scent, to

mark territory, to lay scent trails (example ants)

Touch: (slide 7) to comfort, to establish bonds, to assert dominance, while playing, for warmth,

licking each others wounds

Sound: (slide 5) used in dark and during the day, broadcast in all directions, received by

numerous animals at the same time, high potential for quick signal change, travels faster than

chemical signals, can be used in different mediums (example songs of bluewales, crickets,

birds)

56

Analyzing Animal Communication

The students are to watch two short videos that show groups of animals. First, they simply

watch the video without any task. For the second round, they are told that they should pay

special attention to situations where the animals in the video are communicating. Which

channels can they observe? What does their communication achieve? What is the reason for

communication? After the second round, the teacher asks the students for observation and

collects them on the board. For the third round the teacher stops the video at specific point

to point out behavior and communication that the students did not observe.

The two video-links are:

For horses: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmZDlXMkmf4

For wolves: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEkirxINn5s

Following questions can be given to the students to help them focus their observations:

Horses

How do they accumulate? Close? Spread out?

Who initiates movement of the herd? Special attention at the beginning

Are they resting together or are some paying attention?

Can you recognize antagonistic behavior?

Wolves

Who is the alpha? How did you know?

How are the white wolves behaving?

How does the new wolf react?

What body language can you identify?

On which channels are they communicating?

57

Lesson 5- Interpreting Graphs

The lesson beforehand was about animal communication. However, for a scientist of any sort

it is not only important to be able to make observations, but also to evaluate them. Therefore,

after a repetition of the channels of communication, the focus in this lesson will be on graphs

and how to evaluate information.

Step name of the activity

Social form material minutes

4. Speaking Activity

Riddle18 Groups of 4 Paper stripes with the riddles and answers

10

5. Working with Graphs

Reading graphs, types of graphs

individual Afterwards compare with whole class

Worksheet “Working with Graphs”19

Describing graphs and trends vocabulary

pairwork Worksheet “Describing graphs”20

Interpreting Graphs

In groups of three

Worksheet “Interpreting Graphs”21

30 min for all

worksheets

Draw the graph In pairs Projector> graph 10

18 Riddles taken from: 18 “Riddles In The Dark”. Lord of the Rings Wiki. [Online]. http://lotr.wikia.com/wiki/Riddles_In_The_Dark (19th May, 2017). 19Worksheet adapted from: Biologycorner. [Online]. https://www.biologycorner.com/worksheets/interpreting_graphs.html (19th May, 2017). 20 Worksheet taken from: eslflow. [Online]. http://www.eslflow.com/Describing-graphs-vocabulary-worksheet.html (19th May, 2017). 21 Graphs taken from: Voland, Eckart (2013). Soziobiologie. Berlin: Springer- Verlag.

58

Activation Activity- Riddle

In order to activate the student’s English, the following activity is conducted:

Let the students form groups of four and decide on a riddle master in each group. The riddle

master can choose between the two riddles that the teacher shows them and s/he also

receives the solution for it. Now the other three students can ask yes/no questions in order to

find the answer. After ten minutes the riddle master tells his group members the solution if

they couldn’t find it.

A box without hinges, key or lid,

Yet golden treasure inside is hid.

Answer: Egg

Alive without breath,

As cold as death;

Never thirsty, ever drinking,

All in mail never clinking

Answer: Fish

Graphs In order to be able to interpret general graphs in biology and especially graphs describing

animal behavior, the students need the background knowledge of and the vocabulary for

describing and interpreting graphs. Therefore, the first worksheet deals with the types of

graphs, the second one with the vocabulary needed in order to describe graphs and the third

one with graphs on the topic of social animals. Most likely, students in the seventh grade know

how to read graphs, however, they might not have heard the English terms for it yet.

Backs to the Board

To be conducted at the end of the lesson

The students work in pairs. One person sits with their back to the board, while the other one

is looking at it. The teacher projects a graph onto the board and the student who is looking at

the board describes the other one how the graph looks like. The student with their back to the

board tries to draw the graph without being able to ask questions.

59

Working with Graphs Read through the questions and look at the graphs, then fill the missing information into the gaps.

Type of graph:____________________________________________

Answer: _________________________________________________________

Type of Graph:____________________________________________________

This line graph compares the growth of plants that were kept in the sun for different amounts

of time.

60

Type of graph:________________________________________________________

Type of graph:________________________________________________________

61

62

Interpreting Graphs

This graph shows: ____________________________

____________________________ ____________________________ ____________________________ ____________________________ ____________________________ It suggests that: ______________ ____________________________

____________________________

This graph shows: ____________________________

____________________________ ____________________________ ____________________________ ____________________________ ____________________________ It suggests that: ______________ ____________________________

____________________________

This graph shows: ____________________________

____________________________ ____________________________ ____________________________ ____________________________ ____________________________ It suggests that: ______________ ____________________________

____________________________

In the first lesson on social animals and animal behavior, the benefits and disadvantages

of group life were illustrated. Below you will find three graphs that show a dis/advantage

of group life. Find out which dis/advantage it is and describe the graph.

63

Lesson 6- Working with Academic Texts

After an introduction to the topic of social animals and some language aspects, the students

are now to be familiarized with academic writing and scientific texts. The first academic text

in this project is on dog- and wolf behavior and the tasks are rather scaffolded in order to

facilitate understanding and working with the text.

Step name of the activity

Social form material minutes

Activation Activity Alphabet Challenge

In pairs worksheet 5

Repetition Throwing the Ball

Whole class Ball 5

1. Reading Exercise

Dog-Wolf Behavior22

individually Worksheet and text 15

+ 5 min comparing

2. Vocabulary Work

Gap-filling and mind-map

In groups of four

Worksheet and text 15

Wrap up

Activation Activity- The Alphabet Challenge The goal of this activity is, to find a word on a certain topic, for example social

animals/animals/animal behavior, for each letter in the alphabet. There are different ways to

conduct this activity. First of all, students can do it alone, for example as a filler activity for

quick students, and try to find the corresponding word to each letter. In addition, the teacher

can use it as a class activity, where the person who finds most words gets a small award.

Furthermore, it can be a game where you set a certain time limit, for example 7 minutes, and

the students try to fill in as many words as they can. For each correct word they get a point,

for a word that nobody else has they score 2 points.

22 22 “Dog-human cooperation is based on social skills of wolves”. University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna Press Releases. [Online] http://www.vetmeduni.ac.at/en/infoservice/presseinformation/press-releases-2015/dog-human-cooperation-is-based-on-social-skills-of-wolves/ (2017, May 19th)

64

The Alphabet Challenge

Your teacher will set a time limit of seven minutes. Find a word that starts with the

corresponding letter (e.g. A- Animal Behavior) and fill in as many words to the topic of social

animals/animals/animal behavior as possible. For each correct word you get a point, for a

word that nobody else has you score 2 points.

65

Repetition

The teacher asks all students to stand up and then asks a question, for example, “How can you

describe a graph?” Then, the teacher throws a ball to one of the students, who has to catch it,

give the answer and throw it back to the teacher. If they don’t know the answer, they simply

throw the ball back without answering. The teacher then asks for another word for describing

graphs or for group behavior and communication by throwing the ball to another person.

After activating the students English and their prior knowledge, the focus is now on academic

writing. The students receive a text about dog and wolf behavior, which they have to read.

Afterwards they work on the worksheets provided. The goal of this lesson is to familiarize

them with academic texts and let them work with a scaffolded text first, before they receive

unknown texts the lesson afterwards.

66

Dog-Human Cooperation is Based on Social Skills of Wolves Source: Veterinärmedizinische Universität Wien

Dogs are men's best friend and partner. The origins of this dog-human relationship were

subject of a study by scientists from the Messerli Research Institute at the Vetmeduni Vienna

and the Wolf Science Center in Ernestbrunn. They showed that the ancestors* of dogs, the

wolves, are at least as attentive to members of their species* and to humans, as dogs are.

Beforehand, it has been suggested that* domestication has equipped dogs with two abilities

necessary for cooperative problem solving—social tolerance and social attentiveness*. These

abilities enable* them to adjust their behavior to that of their social partners. However, this

social skill did not emerge* during domestication, but was already present in wolves. The

researchers have published a summary of their results and present their new theory in the

journal Frontiers in Psychology.

Commonly accepted* domestication hypotheses suggest: "Dogs have become tolerant and

attentive as a result of humans actively selecting for these skills* during the domestication

process in order to make dogs cooperative partners."

Friederike Range and Zsófia Virányi from the Messerli Research Institute question the validity*

of this view and have developed the "Canine Cooperation Hypothesis." Their hypothesis states

that since wolves already are tolerant, attentive and cooperative, the relationship of wolves

to their pack mates could have provided the basis for today's human-dog relationship. An

additional selection, at least for social attentiveness and tolerance, was not necessary during

canine domestication.

Dogs accept humans as social partners

The researchers believe that wolves are not less socially attentive than dogs. Dogs however

cooperate more easily with humans, because they more readily accept people as social

partners and more easily lose their fear of humans. To test their hypothesis, Range and Virányi

examined the social attentiveness and tolerance of wolves and dogs within their packs and

toward humans.

Wolf performance in tests at least as good as dogs

Various behavioural tests* showed that wolves and dogs have quite similar social skills. Among

other things, the researchers tested how well wolves and dogs can find food that has been

hidden by a conspecific or by a human. Both wolves and dogs used information provided by a

human to find the hidden food.

Another experiment gave dogs and wolves the chance to observe* conspecifics* as they

opened a box. When it was the observer's turn to do the same, the wolves proved to be the

better imitators, successfully opening the box more often than dogs. "Overall, the tests

67

showed that wolves are very attentive to humans and to each other. Hypotheses which claim

that wolves have limited social skills in this respect in comparison to dogs are therefore

incorrect," Range points out.

Vocabulary

ancestors a person or animal who was a member of one’s family a long time ago and from whom one is descended (abstammen)

species a group of animals whose members are so similar or closely related as to be able to breed together (e.g. dogs, cats, horses, eagles, …)

it has been suggested that it was put (an idea etc) into a person’s mind; to hint at sth

attentiveness giving attention (to another person or animal)

emerge develop

question the validity to doubt if sth is acceptable or reasonable

commonly accepted generally believed to be true

actively selecting for these skills breeding in order for the animals to have certain character traits

behavioral tests tests that examine the behavior of animals

To enable someone to do sth to make someone able to do something by giving means, power or authority

observe To watch and notice

conspecifics Animals from the same species

68

Reading Task 1

After reading the text first for gist and then for a deeper understanding, read it again and

highlight all phrases that are typical for a report or a scientific article. Write them down on the

space below and add any additional phrases that you know:

Reading Task 2

Go over the text again with another color and highlight linking words. Which words did you

find and did you notice anything about the punctuation around linking words?

Reading Task 3

After reading the article several times you should already have a good idea about the

content. Summarize the main points of the text in one sentence and write it in the table

below. Afterwards add your own thoughts on the topic/fact.

1 Sentence Summary Own Opinion

Introduction What is the text about?

Interesting Fact 1:

Fact 2:

Fact 3:

69

Vocabulary Work

Task1

After studying the vocabs on the list, use these words to fill in the gaps in the sentences below.

Try to look for hints that will help you like: is the word an adjective, a noun or a whole phrase?

Is it singular or plural?

Wolves are the ________ of dogs and are at least as attentive to members of their _______,

which are also called _____________as dogs are. Beforehand, _________________

domestication has equipped dogs with two abilities necessary for cooperative problem

solving, of which one is ________________. These abilities ____________ them to adjust

their behavior to that of their social partners. However, this social skill did _____________

during domestication, but was already present in wolves.

Domestication hypotheses that are ___________________suggest that dogs have become

tolerant and attentive because humans _____________________ during the domestication

process

Task 2: Creating a Mind Map

First, write down about 20 words with a partner that are related to the topic of

social animals. Afterwards get into groups of four and group your words into categories. Finally,

fill in the mind map below: write the topic in the center bubble and add your categories and

words. If you need additional bubbles, just add them to the diagram.

communi-cation

Social Animals

> body language

>______________________

>______________________

>______________________

70

Lesson 7 & 8- Conference

The lesson beforehand was an introduction to academic writing and texts. In this session, the

students need this understanding of academic texts in order to be able to work with material

on their own topic.

The teacher gives the students the choice between five animals- for example wolves, bees,

fish, geese and primates. Each groups should have an equal number of people in the end. The

groups get three recently published academic texts/ articles each and read them together in

class. Afterwards they discuss the main points and brainstorm in order to prepare a prepare a

5-minute presentation about their findings the following lesson. The presentation at the end

should include a graph, references to the material, photos or videos and presentation-wise

sticking to the red thread and using academic vocabulary. The presentation is also the final

assessment.

Step name of the activity

Social form material minutes

Explaining the outline of the lesson

Choose an animal

Teacher-class Board 5

Reading the articles

Reading Groups of 5 Articles 20

Collecting information and ideas and using them for a presentation

Preparing the presentation

Groups of 5 Worksheet 20

Homework Individual/pairs/group

71

Possible Task-Descriptions for the Speaking Activity

Task 1- Reading the articles

Get together in groups of five and choose one of the articles that your teacher gave you. Read

it carefully, take notes and make sure you understand the main message, as well as the

evidence and facts that the author provides, in order to support his or her argument. If you

can’t finish reading and discussing your text, finish at home.

Task 2- collecting information and preparing for the presentation

Imagine there is a conference on social animals with the main interest on new insights of how

they are organized and how they communicate next week. In groups of three prepare a

presentation based on your articles and try to stay as academic as you can while presenting

your findings. You can use the computer and design a PP, or go for flipcharts or the blackboard.

Also remember that using graphs and diagrams can help your audience to follow your talk. Be

prepared to present your findings next week in class.

Teacher Information:

The following lesson simulates a conference, the chairs are arranged in rows, the desks at the

side of the classroom. The groups present the topics one after another and if there is time,

there will be a general discussion on the presentations and a round of feedback at the end of

the lesson. If not, the groups will get written feedback from the teacher and the students who

should take notes while listening.

Goal: Students have the language, confidence and knowledge to present a topic in an

academic setting.

That is also the assessment: I can see if they understood the concept of social animals and

their communication and if they can transfer it to a related topic. In addition, I can assess their

presentation itself, with a focus on their language, their preparation and their visual keys.

72

Conclusion

This paper aims at teachers who teach biology in English and want to put a special focus on

animal behavior and group life. The theoretical background to this topic is rather complex and

broad, therefore, gaining an insight into it might take some time. However, diving in to the

subject is not only interesting and rewarding, but also relevant and important for the students

who are to be taught group behavior. Nevertheless, teaching group behavior is made more

difficult by the fact that there is little material out there that can be used in class right away.

This was also shown by the short analysis of three schoolbooks- either the books provide good

theoretical background but have no practical tasks at all, or they work with real-world

knowledge and are contextualized, however, there is little biological information on behavior

and even less on group behavior. Therefore, this paper hopefully fills a small part of the hole

in the material on animal behavior by providing teachers with material that is ready to use in

class. However, at this point, it has to be mentioned that it is always problematic to design

teaching material that can be used on different classes, as the starting point is different with

every class, every school and every teacher. Therefore, materials might have to be adapted or

tasks added or deleted. In addition, the material in this paper was not tested beforehand,

therefore, teaching it might highlight faults and flaws of the material. Nevertheless, the

material, even if it is not yet tested, is a valuable starting point and facilitates teaching gropu

behavior by providing teachers with a summary on the necessary background knowledge for

teaching and materials to use in class.

73

Bibliography

Alcock, John. (1998). Animal Behavior: An Evolutionary Approach, Sixth Edition.

Massachusetts: Sinauer.

Biegl, Christine-Eva. (2014). Begegnungen mit der Natur 6. Wien:oebv

Darwin, C. (1859). On the Origin of Species. London: Murray

Dawkins, Marian Stamp and Aubrey Manning (2015). An Introduction to Animal Behavior.

Cambridge: University Printing House.

Hemminger, Dr. habil. Hansjörg. (1999). „Tiergesellschaft“. Lexikon der Biologie. [Online].

http://www.spektrum.de/lexikon/biologie/tiergesellschaft/66671#ghi (6th April, 2017).

Hinde, R. A. (1976) “Interactions, Relationships and Social Structure”. Royal Anthropological

Institute of Great Britain and Ireland.

“Integration”. Merriam-Webster. [Online]. https://www.merriam-

webster.com/dictionary/integration (17 May, 2017).

Kappeler, Peter (2006). Verhaltensbiologie. Berlin Heidelberg: Springer- Verlag.

Kramer, Bernd (1996). Electroreception and Communication in Fishes. Stuttgart: Gustav

Fischer.

Krause Jens, Graeme D. Ruxton (2002). Living in Groups. New York: Oxford University Press.

„Life Cycle“. Pacific Herring. [Online]. http://www.pacificherring.org/explorer/life-cycle (6th

April,2017).

„Schwarm“ (1999). Lexikon der Biologie. [Online].

http://www.spektrum.de/lexikon/biologie/schwarm/60107 (6th April,2017).

Scott, Graham (2005). Essential Animal Behavior. United Kingdom: Blackwell Science.

Scott, J. P. (1956). “The Analysis of Social Organization in Animals”. Ecology.

74

“The Free Dictionary by Farlex”. Collins English Dictionary. [Online].

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/social+organization (17th May, 2017).

“The Language of Wolves”. Living with Wolves. [Online].

https://www.livingwithwolves.org/about-wolves/general-infomration/ (6th April, 2017).

“The Social Wolf”. Living with Wolves. [Online]. https://www.livingwithwolves.org/about-

wolves/general-infomration/ (6th April, 2017).

Tomecek, Stephen M. (2009). Animal Behavior: Animal Communication. New York: Chelsea

House.

Voland, Eckart. Soziobiologie (2013). Berlin Heidelberg: Springer- Verlag.

Figures

Figure 1: Figure from Hinde 1976 illustrating the different levels of social

organization (Hinde, 1976)

… 7

Figure 2: A Flock of Starlings

(http://www.lovethesepics.com/2012/11/sensational-starling-murmuration-far-

out-flocking-phenomenon-37-pics-13-vids, 02.04.2017)

… 13

Figure 3: A School of Pacific Herring

(www.carnivoraforum.com/topic/10104956/1, 02.04.2017)

… 14

Figure 4: A group of brown rats (www.arkive.org/brown-rat/rattus-

norvegicus/image-A9692.html, 05.04.2017)

… 16

Figure 5: Waggle Dance (www.beeinformed.org/2013/04/04/6489/, 02.04.2017) … 18

Figure 6 : Elephants form individualized groups (www.africa-wildlife-

detective.com/african-elephant.html, 08.03.2017)

… 18

Figure 7: Wolves have complex communication

(www.schoolworkhelper.net/wolves-habitat-characteristics-behaviors/,

08.03.2017)

… 19

75

Figure 8: Body language wolves

(http://www.deviantart.com/morelikethis/295644541, 08.03.2017)

… 20

Figure 9: Submissive behavior (www.iaabc.org/dog/canine-behavior-a-photo-

illustrated-handbook-by-barbara-handelman, 08.03.2017)

… 21

Figure 10: Threat display (http://www.deviantart.com/morelikethis/295644541,

08.03.2017)

… 21

Figure 11: The Play Bow (https://roadsendnaturalist.com/tag/gray-wolf/,

08.03.2017)

… 21

Figure 12: Marking territory (https://roadsendnaturalist.com/tag/gray-wolf/,

08.03.2017)

… 23

Figure 13: Geese vigilance and foraging

(http://www.animalbehavioronline.com/vigilance.html, 19.02.2017)

… 25

Figure 14: Flock of birds illustrating the predator confusion effect

( http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-4128934/Why-birds-feather-

flock-together.html, 19.02.2017)

… 25

Figure 15: Flock of seagulls hunting together

(http://www.biotope.no/2012_04_01_archive.html, 19.02.2017)

… 25

Figure 16: Female lions protecting their cubs against a strange male

(https://cbs.umn.edu/research/labs/lionresearch/social-behavior, 19.02.2017)

… 27,

40

Teaching Material

Bayrhuber, Horst and Ulrich Knull (2006). Linder Biologie. Wien: E.Dorner

Biologycorner. [Online].

https://www.biologycorner.com/worksheets/interpreting_graphs.html (2017, 19th May)

Dale, Liz (2012). CLIL activities. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

“Dog-human cooperation is based on social skills of wolves”. University of Veterinary

Medicine Vienna Press Releases. [Online]

76

http://www.vetmeduni.ac.at/en/infoservice/presseinformation/press-releases-2015/dog-

human-cooperation-is-based-on-social-skills-of-wolves/ (2017, May 19th)

eslflow. [Online]. http://www.eslflow.com/Describing-graphs-vocabulary-worksheet.html

(19th May, 2017).

Hofer, H. and R. Reiter (2011). Biologie 6. Wien: E.Dorner

James, Ian. “Guilty Dog”. ViralElt. [Online] https://viralelt.wordpress.com/2014/01/25/guilty-

dog/ (2016, January 10).

Pammer, Martina (2006). Bio@school. Linz:Veritas

Range, Frederike and Zsófia Virányi. (2015, January 15). “Tracking the evolutionary origins of

dog-human cooperation: the “Canine Cooperation Hypothesis”. Frontiers. [Online]

http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.01582/full (2016, January 10).

“Riddles In The Dark”. Lord of the Rings Wiki. [Online].

http://lotr.wikia.com/wiki/Riddles_In_The_Dark (19th May, 2017).

Voland, Eckart (2013). Soziobiologie. Berlin: Springer- Verlag.

Pictures:

Figure 17: Wolves (www.schoolworkhelper.net/wolves-habitat-

characteristics-behaviors/, 08.03.2017)

… 37

Figure 18: Herd of zebras

(https://www.flickr.com/photos/scirpus/5331355068, 18.05.2017)

… 37, 39

Figure 19: Cuddling emperor penguins (http://www.antarctica.gov.au/about-

antarctica/wildlife/animals/penguins/emperor-penguins, 18.05.2017)

… 37, 41

Figure 20: A group of elephants (www.africa-wildlife-detective.com/african-

elephant.html, 08.03.2017)

… 37

Figure 21: A swarm of fish (http://www.geo.de/natur/tierwelt/10984-bstr-

raffinierte-tierwelt/154926-img-fischernetz-aus-luftblasen, 18.05.2017)

… 37, 43

77

Figure 22: Horses vigilance (https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/kent-

keller.html?page=5, 18.05.2017)

… 39

Figure 23: Black-headed seagull

(http://www.icelandhuntingguide.com/information/18.05.2017)

… 40

Figure 24: Pied kingfisher (http://animalia-life.club/birds/pied-

kingfisher.html, 18.05.2017)

… 41

Figure 25: Common Swallow (https://www.britannica.com/animal/common-

swallow, 18.05.2017)

… 42

Figure 26: Cynomolgus monkeys (https://thelongtails.wordpress.com/about/

18.05.2017)

… 43

Figure 27: Bluegills (http://www.in-

fisherman.com/panfish/bluegill/managing-bluegills/18.05.2017)

… 44