Session 3 – Apes vs. Monkeys Focus On: Apes vs. Monkeys • Introduction to the specific characteristics of prosimians, monkeys, and apes • Activity 1: Primate Family Tree • Activity 2: The Amazing Primate Race • Activity 3: Playing ‘House’ • Activity 4: Primate Species Mad-Libs (take home assignment) • Reflection Session Objectives By the end of this session, the mini-scientists will: 1. Know how to distinguish apes, monkeys, and prosimians 2. Be familiar with the characteristics of the different groups 3. Know how primates are evolutionary related 4. Know the family tree of primates 5. Learn about the social structures of different primate species and their mating strategies 6. Be prepared for a take home assignment where they will research a primate of their choice About This Session In this session, the mini-scientists will learn about the differences between apes, monkeys, and prosimians. They will get familiar with taxonomy, evolution of the different primate species, and how to tell them apart. Mini-scientists will also learn about the family tree of the primates. Finally, they will be introduced to the different types of social structures and mating strategies of different primate species. Before Clubs Begin: Mentor Preparation • Prepare projector for the introduction PowerPoint show. Make sure you can access the videos, and potentially open them in advance so they are ready. (Remember that the last slides should be shown after Activity 1.) • Make sure you have printouts of the primate family tree and all accompanying primate group pictures • For Activity 1, cut out the individual photos for the different primate groups • Make sure you have two ‘The Amazing Primate Race’ A3 posters and two sets of characteristic printed out and individually cut. Put the individually cut characteristics in envelopes identifying one set per team. • For Activity 3, prepare bags of pre-cut pieces of ribbon for each social organization type to the specified measurements outlined on ‘Mentor Preparation – Cutting Ribbons for Social Organizations.’ Make sure primate photo printouts are ready. • Have printout of the take home assignment for all mini-scientists Young Academy Science Club
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Age Appropriate Definitions Great Apes
Orangutans, gorillas, bonobos, chimpanzees and humans are the five species of great apes. Great apes do not have a tail and their body size is bigger than monkeys. Apes also have flatter faces than monkeys.
Small-bodied Apes
Small-bodied ape refer exclusively to gibbons (17 species). They share characteristics with the great apes, but are smaller and more slender. They have adapted to almost exclusively living in trees. Gibbons are dichromatic, meaning males (black) and females (tan) are different colors. Gibbons make a unique “singing” vocalization to communicate long distances. Some do this using a laryngeal (throat) pouch.
New World Monkey
“New World” refers to Central and South America, and these monkeys are descendants of African primates. While New World monkeys differ in size, they have some shared characteristics: Wide horizontal nostrils, long tails – some prehensile (see below) and no
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buttock pads. Some of the species give birth to twins (tamarins and marmosets), but not all. (Hereafter named NWM).
Old World Monkey
“Old World” refer to Africa and Asia. [Except for a remnant population of monkeys in Gibraltar, Spain, fossils show Old World monkey species also used to live in Europe.] Old World monkeys have adapted to many different environments from tropical rainforests to savannas, rocky shrub land, mountains, and even snowy climate. Old World Monkeys are generally larger than NWM. They have following characteristics: Narrow and vertical nostrils, longer legs than arms, flat nails, cheek pouches (for storing food), calloused buttock pads, and tails (sometimes stumped tails). (Hereafter named OWM).
Tarsiers
Unique primate that shares characteristics with both monkeys (including dry nose, mobile upper lip, postorbital closure) and prosimians (including large eyes, small body size, grooming claws, and nocturnal) and is therefore often classified within its own group. Located exclusively in SE Asia. Large Eyes Postorbital Closure Grooming claw
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Prosimians
Not an ape nor a monkey, but a primate with dog-like characteristics. The prosimians group includes lemurs, lorises, bushbabies, pottos, and sometimes tarsiers. Recognized as the most primitive of the primates (sometimes called ‘pre-monkeys’). Monkeys evolved from a prosimian-like ancestor. Prosimians are primarily nocturnal and have large sensitive eyes. Their characteristics include: Big eyes, a whiskered snout with a wet nose and split immobilized upper lip, a toothcomb, and a combination of nails and grooming claw. Share geographic region with OWM and some only live in specific places like Madagascar.
Latin Name
Latin names are used as scientific names for animals. Animals have a common name, Latin name, a family, and taxa. The Latin names are used by scientists internationally to correctly classify and identify species. For example, the Latin name for humans is Homo sapiens and for chimpanzees is Pan troglodytes.
Taxonomy
Means “arrangement”. In biology, a taxon is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen to form a unit or family. Taxonomy is a way of defining groups of biological organisms on the basis of shared characteristics.
Territory
The area of land that a particular species, group, or individual live in and protect from intruders of similar or competing species. If the territory is actively defended the species, group, or individual is considered territorial.
Social Organization
While all primates are considered social living animals, the different primate species have different ways of living, these are called social organization. Social organizations influence mating
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strategies. The different types of primate social organizations are listed below: Semi-solitary
Single females living with their offspring. Mates with males when they need new offspring. Primate example: Orangutans.
Monogamous
One male and one female living together as pair with their offspring. Primate example: Gibbons.
Polyandry
Many males living with one female and offspring. Often the males are related (i.e., brothers). The males all help care for the offspring. This type of social system allows for multiple births (i.e., twins). Primate example: Tamarins and marmosets.
Polygyny
Many females and offspring living with one male (sometimes two males if the males are related). Primate example: Gorillas.
Polygamy
Many males and females with offspring living together. A close group that mates and stay together as a unit. Primate example: Baboons.
Fission-fusion
Community with several males, females and offspring living together, and mating promiscuously with each other. In this unique social structure, communities members are not always together and can break apart into smaller parties (i.e., grooming, feeding, motherinfant, all male patrol parties, etc.). Primate examples: Chimpanzees, bonobos, humans.
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Terrestrial
Living predominantly on the ground. Primate example: Gelada baboons.
Semi-terrestrial
Spending much of the day on the ground and only returning to the trees to eat and sleep. Primate example: Chimpanzees.
Arboreal
Living predominantly in the trees. Most prosimians and monkeys are arboreal sometimes coming to the ground to travel between food patches in areas where the tree canopy is not dense.
Prehensile
The term prehensile means "able to grasp". A prehensile tail of an animal has adapted to be able to grasp or hold objects. Fully prehensile tails can be used to hold and manipulate objects. Partially prehensile tails are ‘only’ used to anchor an animal’s body to a branch.
Materials Needed Snacks: Mentors choice. Introduction to Apes vs. Monkeys Per club
Per group
Per mini-scientist
Apes vs. Monkeys Introduction PowerPoint
Per club Last slides from introduction PowerPoint
Activity 1: Primate Family Tree Per group (3-4) Glue sticks
Per mini-scientist Blank Primate Family Tree A3 poster Pictures of family tree primates
Activity 2: The Amazing Primate Race Per club
Per team (2)
Tree gum
Apes vs. Monkeys A3 poster
Per mini-scientist
Characteristics in an envelope
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Activity 3: Playing ‘House’ Per club
Per reenactment
Per female mini-scientist
Playing ‘House’ PowerPoint
Ribbon cut to specified lengths (vary colors by social organization)
Pink ribbon cut in two meter pieces
Primate social organization photo printouts
Activity 4: Primate Species Mad-Libs (take home assignment) Per club
Per group
Per mini-scientist Primate Species Mad-Libs printout
Question of the Day You should present the question of the day in your introduction. At the end of the session, right before reflection, revisit the question, and have the students answer. Session 3 Question of the Day How can you distinguish a monkey from an ape?
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Program Session 3 Introduction: (15 minutes) In this introduction, the mini-scientists are presented some of the characteristics that are specific to prosimians, monkeys, and apes. The goal is that mini-scientists will be able to distinguish prosimians from monkeys from apes using these characteristics, and know which adaptations that are unique for the different groups. The mini-scientists will also be introduced to the different social organizations and mating strategies that primates live in and use. The goal of this is not to have the mini-scientist memorize these, but to make them aware that primates live in different social organizations and have different mating strategies and have adapted these different organizations and strategies to maximize their survival potential. 1. Prepare the ‘Apes vs. Monkeys Introduction’ PowerPoint slides on the projector for the introduction. Present the Question of the Day: How can you distinguish a monkey from an ape? 2. Slide 1: Today you are going to learn a lot more about prosimians, monkeys, and apes. You will learn about the different characteristics that can help you identify if the primate is a prosimian, monkey, or ape. They each have specific adaptations that make them unique and well suited for their environment. We will not look at all species of primates because there are far too many (~350 species), but we will look at some of the general characteristics. Today you will also learn more about the different types of monkeys and the different types of prosimians. 3. Slide 2: (Images of great apes). We start with the great apes. Do you know the easiest way to distinguish apes from monkeys? Apes do not have tails! This is the easiest way to determine if it is a monkey or an ape. However, there are other characteristics as well that are unique for the apes. Look at the pictures on the slides. (Press ‘next’). The Great apes have larger body size than monkeys. They also have flatter faces than monkeys (like humans). Chimpanzees, bonobos, and gorillas walk on their knuckles, whereas orangutans walk on their fists. Humans, as we already know, walk upright only on the feet. 4. Slide 3: (Images of small-bodied apes). Now we move on to the small-bodied apes. What about those? Ask the mini-scientists what characteristics they can see on the images. The characteristics of the gibbon are very similar to the apes. (Press ‘next’). Like great apes, gibbons have no tail and a flat face. They are however smaller, and that is why they are called small-bodied apes. But what about walking? How do you think that gibbons walk? Move to the video once the students have given their suggestions.
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5. Gibbon Walking Video: The video shows a gibbon running awkwardly on ground. After the video, explain to the students that this is because gibbons are arboreal. This means that they live in the trees, and they have adapted to this lifestyle. Therefore, when they come down on the ground, their bodies are not made for walking and their arms are too long. This is similar to humans trying to walk on all four, which awkward for us, because our legs are too long and our arms are too short. Have a volunteer come up and try to walk on their knuckles or fists like a great ape. See how easy it is for them. 6. Slide 4: (NWM vs. OWM). Remind the mini-scientists of the first session, where you explained to them, that there are two types of monkeys: Old world monkeys (Africa and Asia) and New world monkeys (Central and South America). Show the geographical locations to remind them of what it means. 7. Slide 6: (Images of OWM). These are some of the OWM. Monkeys can be very different looking, but there are a few characteristics that can tell you if it is an OWM. (Press ‘next’). A general characteristic of old world monkeys is that they are generally larger than NWM. More specific characteristics include narrow vertical nostrils, longer arms than legs (although not as extreme as the gibbon), flat nails, and buttocks pads to sit on. Some OWM also have cheek pouches so they can store food in their mouths. They also tend to have shorter tails than NWM and if they have a stumped-tail, they are definitely OWM. 8. Slide 7: (Images of NWM). This slide show some of the NWM. As you can see here, the NWM can as well vary a lot in how they look. But like the OWM they have some very distinct characteristics that can help you determine that they are NWM. (Press ‘next’). The NWM are generally smaller than OWM but they have very different sizes overall. They have wide horizontal nostrils and long tails. Some even have prehensile (grasping) tails. This means that they can use their tails to grasp objects and move around in the trees. Unlike OWM and apes, some of the NWM regularly have twins. Both OWM and NWM walk on their palms instead of their knuckles or fists. NWM do not have buttocks pads. 9. Slide 8: (Images of prosimians). Prosimians look rather different from monkeys and apes. They are known as ‘pre-monkeys’. There are several different types of prosimians: Lemurs, lorises, galagos, and tarsiers. (Press ‘next’). Prosimians have more dog-like features than the rest of the primates. For example, like your dog prosimians have whiskered snouts with wet noses. As you can see here, many of the prosimians also have large eyes (tarsiers, galagos, lorises and some species of lemurs). This is because they are nocturnal. However, not all lemurs are are nocturnal. Another distinctive feature of the prosimians is that they have an immobile upper lip and they have a combination of nails and a grooming claw. These characteristics make them more ‘primitive.’ Prosimians also use scent communication, where they
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rub up against trees to mark their territory and attract females. Other primates do not do this. 10. Slide 9: (Different adaptations). Many of the primates have different adaptations to their environment, like you learned about in Session 2. Here are some examples of how different species have different locomotion (traveling) adaptations. Apes walk on their knuckles when on the ground and swing from below the branches in the trees. Most monkeys however walk on their palms and run and jump on top of the tree branches. Sifakas have very short arms and powerful long legs. When showing the picture of the sifaka, ask mini-scientists how they think the sifaka might travel? After hearing some guesses, explain that when moving on the ground and in the trees sifakas vertically bounce or leap from one spot to the next. 11. Sifaka Travelling Video: Show video of sifaka traveling on the ground. 12. Slide 10: (Different adaptations). This slide presents another adaptation that clearly shows physical differences from OWM to small-bodied apes to chimps and humans. The more erect the species the wider the ribcage. 13. Slide 10 is the last introduction slide. Slide 11 should be saved to show after Activity 1. Just leave the slide show open and move on to the activity. Then you can easily go back and show slide 11 after Activity 1. Activity 1: Primate Family Tree (20 minutes) The goal of Activity 1 is to show the mini-scientists the diversity of primate species and to give them an overview of the different species. By creating a primate family tree, they will learn about the concept of relatedness and evolution, and get to know some of the main groups of primates. They will work with lemurs & lorises, tarsiers, new world monkeys, old world monkeys, and apes. 1. Have the mini-scientists sit in groups around big tables so they can share the glue sticks and primate pictures. Hand out an empty family tree to each mini-scientist, but wait to place all the primate photos in the center of the table until after presenting the task. 2. Explain to the mini-scientists that they now have to do an activity that is about all the different groups of primates. Ask them if they know what a family tree is. A family tree is a way of creating a map over family members and see who as most closely related to whom and how. Maybe as an example, you as mentors can draw your own family tree on the board (grandparents, parents, and you). 3. Now explain to the mini-scientists that they are going to create a family tree of the different species of primates. Explain that around 65 million years ago before primates existed, there was a species that had evolved to be a primate-like mammal. Young Academy Science Club
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This primate-like mammals species was quite successful and soon expanded to various tropical habitats across the globe with one population developing specialized adaptations leading to the first primate species. Over millions of years and many new adaptations and challenges for the primates, we now have more than 350 different species of primates across the world. All these primates have adapted to their specific habitats, adjusted their diet, and formed different social structures. And they have done this for one simple reason – survival of their species. Some species however don’t always survive. For example, thousands of years ago on Madagascar there were lemurs on the size of gorillas, but humans overhunted them and they are now extinct. So the number and variety of primates can change quicker than you might think. 4. Hand out the different pictures of primates. Explain to the students, that they now have to recreate the family tree of primates. Since the earliest primate-like species does not exist anymore, they have to do it with the species that exist today. Given that we cannot make a family tree with all 350 primate species, you only have to work with five main groups of primates: lemurs & lorises, tarsiers, new world monkeys, old world monkeys, and apes. 5. On the table, you see pictures of different species (1 lemur, 1 loris, 1 tarsiers, 3 NWM, 3 OWM, and 1 ape). You have to place one picture per box, and all pictures have to be used. Warn the mini-scientists not to glue them on until they have their choices checked by one of the mentors. The mentors should spread out and help the mini-scientists identify the different species. You can use the characteristics from the introduction to help identify primate groups or see “age appropriate definitions” above. They can start with the ones they know for sure, and then help each other to figure out the rest with the help of a mentor. All pictures have one identifiable characteristic that gives it away! 6. Once a mini-scientist has chosen a picture for each position and a mentor has checked that it is correct, the pictures can be glued down. The mini-scientists can bring home the family tree if they would like. 7. Ask the mini-scientists if they found it hard? Explain to them, that this activity also has shown how characteristics can be used to identify primates. Tell them that they are getting very good at using characteristics. 8. Return to the ‘introduction’ slide show, and show the mini-scientists slide 10. This slide shows the family tree of the apes. Explain to the students that all groups represented on the family tree they just made have their own family trees. These can be explored to get to know how the different species are related. The bottom branch represents the common ancestor for all of the great apes. At some point millions of years ago (15-18 million years ago), some of these ancestors moved and adapted to a different landscape or lifestyle. Over time, they changed so much they became a new species: the gibbons. Later on, another group was separated and they started to evolve
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and became the orangutans. This carried on for millions of years, and now there are the five great ape species and the gibbons that represent the ape family. Activity 2: The Amazing Primate Race (15 minutes) In Activity 2, the mini-scientists are going to learn more about the characteristics of apes and monkeys. They will compete in two groups on who knows the differences best. The goal of this activity is for the mini-scientists to be able to distinguish monkeys and apes. 1. One mentor divides the mini-scientists in two teams and sends each team to separate corners at the back of the room. The teams should come up with a primate species team name. [One team name should be a monkey species and the other an ape species to go along with the Apes vs. Monkeys session theme.] While the mini-scientists brainstorm their name, set up the A3 posters on the wall on each side of the projector board with tree gum at a height where all mini-scientists can reach it. The miniscientists will have to run from the back of the room to the front, and place characteristics on their teams’ poster in the correct position and then quickly return to their team for the next clue. 2. Have the teams present their team names. Explain to them that we are going to have a race and that the challenge is to place the characteristics in the right location in the bubbles. Point to the poster and show the mini-scientists that the monkey only characteristics go in the top circle labeled ‘Monkeys’, and the ape only characteristics go in the bottom circle labeled ‘Apes’. Tell them that some of the characteristics however are shared by both monkeys and apes. These have to be placed in the overlapping circles labeled ‘Both’. 3. Now explain to the mini-scientists how this will be an ‘Amazing Primate Race.’ The teams have to take each characteristic clue out of the envelope one by one. For each clue, they have to agree as a team on where to place it on the poster. One team member then races (quickly walking, no running) with the characteristic to their poster. Using the tree gum, stick the characteristics clue on backwards so the teams cannot see one another’s answers. When finished, the mini-scientists should hurry back to their team and then they should decide on the next characteristic. Teammates must take turns going to the poster and sticking on the clue. 4. The team that finishes first gets 3 points, and all correctly placed characteristics gives 1 point. This makes it attractive to win, but also important to place the characteristics correctly. 5. Go over the posters and answers together once both teams finish, tallying up the scores for each team as you go. If some of the answers are wrong, explain the correct placement to the mini-scientists. Hopefully the mini-scientist did well, and got most of the characteristics correct. Announce the primate species team winner!
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----------------------------------------- Snack Break (15 minutes) ------------------------------------Activity 3: Playing ‘House’ (30 minutes) In this activity, the mini-scientists will learn more about social organization and mating strategies. The activity is a mix between looking at slides, listening, and actively reenacting the different social organizations. The goal is for the mini-scientists to understand that different primate species have adapted different social livestyles to ensure the highest number of surviving offspring. The ultimate goal for all species of animals is to have offspring that survive to reproductive ages thereby securing the survival of the species. Some of these lifestyles and mating strategies might be a little abstract for the mini-scientists, but hopefully they will understand through the activity and the reenacting. To make it more understandable for the mini-scientists, focus will be more on territory and social structure than on mating (despite the fact that mating is a major driving force behind social organization). The shift in focus is to avoid making the mini-scientists feel embarrassed. Try to use the terms ‘reproduce’ and ‘mating,’ and not ‘giving birth’ and ‘having sex,’ to make it more scientific and hopefully less awkward for the mini-scientists. 1. Prepare the “Playing ‘House’” slides on the projector and go to slide 1. 2. Gather the mini-scientists and explain that now they are going to learn about social organization, territory, and mating strategies. Explain that the primary goal for all animals and for most humans is to have offspring and passing on genes. Primates have adapted to different types of social groups to ensure the greatest reproductive success. They are now going to learn about the different ways that primates live and have social lives. There are six different types of social strategies. After a strategy is described, all the mini-scientists are going to get up and reenact this lifestyle using ribbons. [Clear any desks or tables from the middle of the room so there is enough space. Mini-scientists can stay standing while you explain each slide before reenacting.] They are going to ‘fight’ for territory, friends, and companions to survive. To provide some context, explain that when primates want to have offspring there are some physical needs that need to be met. Females are considered the ecological sex because they need a lot of resources (like food) to not only survive but also to be pregnant and care for offspring. A female’s number one priority is always their offspring. While males also need these same resources, they often require less because they only have to take care of themselves. Since males typically do not need to care for offspring, they are more mobile and can also travel greater distances for food than females. Males can also afford to spend time searching for or protecting females. Most female primates can only have one offspring at a time. Males are therefore
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focused on fathering as many offspring as possible. Each type of social organization has different advantages, which you will learn about as you reenact each one. 3. Slide 5: Semi-Solitary. Move on to slide 5. This slide is about semi-solitary life. Orangutans live in this type of social organization because resources are so patchily distributed in their environment and there is too much competition for resources between females if they were living in one big group and overlapping in space. In this lifestyle, the females and their offspring have their own territories. These individual female territories are then encircled by one alpha male orangutan called a flanged male. Flanged refers to the male appearance as they have flanged cheeks. For the reenactment, the mini-scientists will be orangutans. What advantages might there be to this social strategy? See if the mini-scientists have a few ideas but then wait to talk in detail about the advantages after they have completed the reenactment. Semi-Solitary Reenactment: Hand out a piece of pink ribbon to each to each female orangutan and explain that this piece of ribbon represents the space she needs to have enough resources for her and her potential offspring to survive. [Obviously this is much too small for anyone to survive, but it is symbolic.] Tell females to hold their arms out to the side and space themselves apart at arm’s length so that their arms do not overlap. [Females are free to move around during each reenactment, but females cannot have overlapping spaces as should use the arm’s length method to remain spaced apart. Overlapping spaces would reduce the females’ resources and negatively affect her chances of survival.] After females have spaced themselves at arm’s length, they should place their pink ribbons in a circle on the floor around their feet. The female orangutans are creating their own territories now (close together in clusters with their circle ribbons almost touching but never overlapping). Get the bag of ribbons labeled Semi-Solitary. These are the turquoise ribbons. Have each male mini-scientist pull out one piece of turquoise ribbon. The longest pieces of turquoise ribbon will symbolize the flanged males. Males should quickly try to encircle as many females and their pink territories as possible. One flanged male may have a number of females (around 3-5) in his territory. However some males may have fewer and some even zero. The secondary males who do not have enough strength and resources (as indicated by the small pieces of turquoise ribbon) will be left to lurk on the periphery of the territories, sneaking around and trying to take over the territory of the females when the phalanged males are weak. Example of how the social structure should look. Depending on size of the science club, you may only have one phalanged male group with females with secondary males lurking on the periphery.
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♂ While the mini-scientists finished reenacting but still in arranged in this social organization discuss the disadvantages of this social structure. The advantage for females in this social strategy is that they do not have to directly compete with other females for resources. Each female only has to worry about finding enough food for her and her offspring and not about fighting over food patches. The advantage for phalanged males is that they are likely to father the offspring of the females within their territory. However, phalanged males do have to worry about sneaky males living on the territory’s edge. Have one mentor collect all of the semi-solitary male’s turquoise ribbons and put them back in the semi-solitary bag. Do not throw away. We will use this again in future science clubs. Females should keep their pink ribbon for the next reenactment. 4. Slide 2: Monogamy. Explain to the mini-scientists that monogamy means living in couples: one male and one female together with their offspring. Some of you may live in a family like this with your mom, dad, and siblings. Gibbons and owl monkeys live like this. Ask the mini-scientists if they know what the benefit from living like this could be? See if the mini-scientists have a few ideas but then wait to talk in detail about the advantages after they have completed the reenactment. Monogamy Reenactment: Get the bag of purple ribbons labeled Monogamy. Now all the male mini-scientists have to pull out one piece of purple ribbon from the monogamy bag. The males will quickly notice that the purple ribbon varies in length. Some males will have longer pieces of purple ribbon and others will have shorter. Explain to the males that the purple ribbon represents how fit they are as males and how successful they will be at defending a territory and securing a female. Also explain that there might be an unequal number of males and females and that not everyone will find a mate, so time is precious. This often happens in nature as competition is stiff and only the best males win. For the monogamy reenactment, explain that the boys are representing gibbon males and the girls are gibbon females. The males have to first build their territory by creating a circle around them with their purple ribbons. [This is done by laying the purple ribbons on the ground in a circle and each male standing inside of their territory.] Males should strive to make their purple ribbon circle as big as possible, but remember male territories cannot overlap! The bigger the territory the better Young Academy Science Club
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because bigger territories often have more resources, like food and space, available. Now it is the females’ turn to be selective. Once the males have established their territories, females should select a male and enter into his territory. Then females should use their pink ribbons to expand their males territory by joining the ribbons together to make a larger circle (half with the purple ribbon and half with the pink ribbon).
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♀♂ Once all males or all females have found a mate and created a territory, stop the miniscientists. Ask them to take a look at the result. Who has a mate and who does not? Imagine if it happened in the wild. What do you think would happen if there were females without a mate? Males would try to steal one. The way that a male can steal a female is by taking over another males’ territory (purple ribbon), or by convincing a female to come over to his territory. Unpaired males are left to lurk on the edges of the pairs’ territories hoping to steal a female if her male mate becomes weak, sick, or too older to defend the territory. The basic benefits from living together as a couple is that the female gets help raising the offspring, and the male knows that he is the father of the offspring. This way the need of passing on genes and securing survival of the offspring is better secured. However, sometimes the couple is not the best match and the couple splits up to search for new and better mates. Have one mentor collect all of the monogamy purple ribbon from the males and put it back in the monogamy bag. Do not throw away. We will use this again in future science clubs. Females should keep their pink ribbon for the next reenactment. 5. Slide 3: Polyandry. Now gather the mini-scientists and go to the next slide explaining the next social strategy. This strategy is called Polyandry. Tamarins and marmosets live this way. Explain to the students that this means that multiple males live together in a territory with one female. The males are usually brothers. As they do the reenactment, ask mini-scientists to think about what benefits this social strategy may have? Polyandry Reenactment: Get the bag of barricade tape labeled Polyandry. Tell the mini-scientists that it is time to create tamarin polyandry social groups. First have each male mini-scientist select a piece of orange ribbon from the polyandry bag. Males will quickly realize that their orange ribbon is too short to encircle a female and her required space (pink ribbons). Remind the mini-scientists that in polyandry multiple males are living together with one female so the tamarin males must pool Young Academy Science Club
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their defense skills together to defend a territory. Depending on the length of orange ribbon, some males may have to group with only one or two other males whereas other may have to group with three or four. They can help each other create the territory using each other’s orange ribbons and laying them on the ground to create a circle large enough for them and one female and her required space. Again it is time for the females to shop around and select the best group of males with the best territory. Females better be quick otherwise another female will get there first. Once a female finds a group of males to join, she should add her pink ribbon to the male’s orange ribbon to make their territory bigger.
♀♂ ♂♂
♂ ♂ ♀
♀♂ ♂♂
In this social structure, the females should not feel too secure in their new territories because if the female does not quickly have an offspring, she could be pushed out of the males’ territory and replaced by a new female. But once she has an offspring with one of the males in the group, they will then protect the mother and her offspring. One advantage of polyandry is that related males jointly work together to secure and protect the best territory possible, thereby attracting the best females. Tamarin and marmoset females have also evolved a unique adaptation to this social organization: Females regularly give birth to fraternal twins. [Twinning is rare in all other primate species.] So with each birth, two of the males are likely to father at least one of the twins. Ultimately, all males in their social structure win because either their or their brother’s genes are being passed on to the next generation. Males also help to care for the twins. Have one mentor collect all of the polyandry barricade tape and put it back in the polyandry bag. Do not throw away. We will use this again in future science clubs. Females should keep their pink ribbon for the next reenactment. 6. Slide 4: Polygyny. Now it is time to learn about the next social strategy: Polygyny. Move to slide 4 and explain to the mini-scientists that this lifestyle is carried out by gorillas. In this lifestyle, it is a constant battle for the alpha male (called the silverback in gorillas) to secure his territory. While one silverback may have secured a group of females, other young blackback males create small groups on the periphery and are ready to challenge the silverback when the time is right. What might be the advantage of this type of social organization? Polygyny Reenactment: Get the bag of green ribbons labeled Polygyny. Have male mini-scientists select one piece of green ribbon from the bag. Explain that the male with the longest piece of green ribbon will be the alpha male, the silverback gorilla! The silverback should quickly outline his territory using the green ribbon and the Young Academy Science Club
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females should all try to fit inside his territory. Females will join their pink ribbons together on the floor to create one large pink circle inside the silverbacks green ribbon. This symbolizes the females living as a group within the silverback’s large territory. The remaining black back males should use their green ribbons to create smaller all male groups (2-3 males) outside of the silverback’s territory. They can then try to steal away a few males into their group when the alpha is not paying attention. They will soon realize that the alpha male have a hard time securing the entire territory full of females alone.
♀ ♀ ♀ ♀ ♂♂
♀ ♀♀
♂♂♂
♀ ♂
♂♂
The advantage to females in this social structure is that silverback has to be very strong to be alpha and maintain his territory. Silverbacks generally have good, strong features, which is desirable to females. Females want their offspring to also have these traits. This means that the offspring that the females get will have strong alpha genes from their father. While this social organization can be quite exhausting for a silverback because he has to constantly defend his territory and his females, the advantage is that he has exclusive mating rights with all of the females in his group. This means he can be certain that all of the offspring is his group are actually his and that his genes are surviving to the next generation. [If a new silverback overthrows another and takes over his group, he will often kill all of the nursing infants in the group so that the females can get pregnant with his offspring.] Do NOT yet collect the ribbons from the polygyny reenactment. Mini-scientists will reuse these ribbons in the polygamy reenactment. Females should keep their pink ribbon for the next reenactment. 7. Slide 6: Polygamy. The next strategy is Polygamy (slide 6), also called Polygynandry. Some monkeys, like macaques, live in polygamous societies. In this social strategy, a large group of males and females live together and protect their joint territory. They all have offspring with each other. What would be the advantage of this social strategy? Polygamy Reenactment: Explain to the mini-scientists that they will use their green and pink ribbons from the polygyny to now reenact the polygamy social organization. Since all males and females live together in one cohesive group in polygamy, have all Young Academy Science Club
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Apes vs. Monkeys
of the males and females lay their ribbons on the floor end to end to create one giant circle that everyone can fit inside.
♂ ♀
♀
♂
♂ ♀
♂
♂ ♀
♀ ♀
♂
♂ ♀
♀ ♂
One advantage of this lifestyle is strength in numbers. The more individuals, especially males, living together in one group means the better you can defend your territory against other groups. Males, especially high-ranking males, have the advantage of mating with multiple females and potentially fathering many offspring over the course of their lifetime. Females have the advantage of mating with multiple males to confuse the paternity of her offspring. This reduces the probability of males killing her offspring because they might be the fathers. This social structure also creates a rich environment for complex social interactions and learning. Have one mentor collect all of the polygyny/polygamy ribbons and put it back in the polygyny bag. Collect all of the pink female ribbons and return to the female ecological space bag. Do not throw away. We will use again in future science clubs. 8. Slide 7: Fission-Fusion Promiscuity. The last lifestyle is presented on slide 7. This is the most complex lifestyle, and it is called fission-fusion. Chimpanzees and bonobos live in fission-fusion societies. What makes this lifestyle complex is that individuals live ‘together’ in a large community where they all know each other and the territory. But the group is not always together as a fixed unit. Instead, community members can breaks up into smaller parties where membership is constantly changing. Parties can be dispersed over their entire territory. You can have feeding parties, grooming parties, all male parties patrolling the territory edge, all female and offspring parties, one male and one female mating parties, etc. What might be the advantages of this complex social organization? Fission-Fusion Reenactment: This lifestyle is more difficult to reenacted. But you can explain to the mini-scientists that they can recognize fission-fusion society in the way humans live (except when it comes to mating). Humans also move around and hang out in different social groups (at home, at school, at a friend’s house etc.), but all with members of our community (individuals you recognize as being familiar and spend a lot of time with). And when humans grow up they move away from their parents. However they still come back to visit and spent time together. If a new person suddenly appears in your class or in the house next door, you immediately know they are ‘strangers’. Humans however are not violent and aggressive towards
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new people, but some might be shy. However, when it comes to mating, humans tend to prefer monogamy (this means that humans have a mix of strategies).
♀ ♂ ♂♂ ♂ ♂ ♂ ♂
♀ ♀ ♂ ♂ ♀ ♀ ♀ ♂♀ ♂♀ ♂
♀
♀ ♀ ♀ ♀
While many of the advantages to fission-fusion society are the same as polygamy, there are some added advantages to the fluidity of parties. For example, when food is scarce, the community can break apart into smaller parties and search for food in different areas of their territory. This means that fission-fusion societies are often more flexible to changing environments and may do better when resources are scarce and patchily distributed. Fission-fusion society also allows for the most complex social interactions and promotes high levels of social intelligence. Some of the world’s most intelligent species live in fission-fusion societies: chimpanzees, bonobos, elephants, dolphins, and whales. Activity 4: Primate Species Mad-Lib (take-home assignment) (5 minutes) The last activity is a take-home assignment for the mini-scientists (see attachment). They get the opportunity to get to know a primate of their own choice in detail. If the mini-scientists want to know more about a specific species or if they know a species that have not been presented in depth during the curriculum so far, they now have the chance. Hand out the printout of the Primate Species Mad-Lib sheet to each mini-scientist. Explain that the mini-scientists should fill in the blanks of the Primate Species Mad-Lib based on the clues within parentheses below each blank. They can select any primate species they would like to learn more about. The mini-scientists can complete the Primate Species Mad-Lib by themselves or get help from their parents. They can find information about their species online, at the library, and in lexicons. They have one week to complete their Mad-Lib and be ready for the next session. Mini-scientists should bring their completed Mad-Lib to Session 4 next week and a few volunteers will get to present the species they have chosen by reading their Mad-Lib to the other club members. Question of the Day: Revisited (5 minutes) Revisit the Question of the Day. As in previous sessions, write the answers on the blackboard or just summarize, depending on your preferences.
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Primatology Curriculum – Session 3
Apes vs. Monkeys
How can you distinguish a monkey from an ape? Monkeys have tails and apes do not. Apes have larger brains compared to body size, longer arms than legs. Apes can swing in trees, monkeys can only run and jump. Reflection: (10 minutes) The mini-scientists can draw or write in their notebooks. It might be a good thing to have a few questions to get the thoughts going. Possible Reflection Questions: 1. Do you think monkeys and apes are similar? And did you think they were similar before today. Think about some of the characteristics you have learned today. 2. Have you ever created a family tree before? Did you realize how all primates are related? 3. Which social strategy to you think is the best one to secure the offspring? Why do you think primates have adapted to different lifestyles? If you had to be a non-human primate, which social organization would you like to live in? After the club ends, make sure to see or hear about what the mini-scientists draw or wrote in their journals. Collect lab coats and notebooks.
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Primatology Curriculum – Session 3
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Activity 1 – Primate Family Tree A3 Poster
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Primatology Curriculum – Session 3
Activity 1 – Primate Family Tree
Mentor Preparation – Primate Family Tree Photos Mentors should cut out the below photos of primates (one printout with 10 photos per mini-scientists) exactly to size so the photos will fit in the blank squares on the Primate Family Tree, making sure to exclude the text (i.e., primate name and clues). The name and clues are for the mentors to help mini-scientists when they have difficultly assigning primates to their family tree. OWM = Old World Monkey; NWM = New World Monkey
Lemur (Ring-tailed lemur)
Loris (Slow Loris)
Tarsier
NWM (Squirrel Monkey)
NWM (Gold Lion Tamarin)
NWM (Howler Monkey)
OWM (Golden Monkey)
OWM (Mandrill)
OWM (Rhesus Monkey)
Primate Group Clues Lemur = dog-like appearance, snout with wet nose Loris = Noctornal (large eyes, wet nose) Tarsier = small, noctornal (large eyes), long fingers NWM = smaller body size, some have twins and prehensile tails OWM = downward pointing narrow nostrils (some with snub nose), some with stumped tails, cheek pouches Apes = larger body size, no tail Ape (Lowland Gorilla) Young Academy Science Club
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Activity 2 – The Amazing Primate Race
What is the difference between monkeys and apes? Monkeys and apes are both primates. They share many things in common, but they also have many differences. For an individual activity, compare monkeys and apes using the words below to fill in the diagram. Write the characteristics unique to each group in each of their circles. Write the shared characteristics in the area where the circles overlap.
Deep chest Wide chest Color vision Smaller brains Larger brains
Arms same length as legs Arms longer than legs Grasping hands Only live in Africa and Asia More similar to humans
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No tail Have a tail Walks on palms of hands Walks on knuckles/fists Can move by brachiating 24
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Activity 2 – The Amazing Primate Race
MENTOR KEY
What is the difference between monkeys and apes? Monkeys and apes are both primates. They share many things in common, but they also have many differences. Compare monkeys and apes using the words below to fill in the diagram. Write the characteristics unique to each group in each of their circles. Write the shared characteristics in the area where the circles overlap.
Deep chest Smaller brains Arms same length as legs Some live in South America Have a tail Walks on palms of hands Run and jump in trees
Color vision Grasping hands
Wide chest Larger brains Arms longer than legs Only live in Africa and Asia No tail Walks on knuckles/fists Can move by brachiating (swinging)
Deep chest Wide chest Color vision Smaller brains Larger brains
Arms same length as legs Arms longer than legs Grasping hands Only live in Africa and Asia Some live in south America
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No tail Have a tail Walks on palms of hands Walks on knuckles/fists Can move by brachiating 25
Primatology Curriculum – Session 3
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Activity 2 – The Amazing Primate Race A3 Poster for Groups
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Activity 2 – The Amazing Primate Race
Mentor Preparation – Characteristics List Instructions: For A3 poster for Activity 2 - The Amazing Primate Race. Print out two copies of the below list and cut out each characteristic. One list per team. Place characteristics in envelope for mini-scientists to draw from one at a time.
Grasping hands
Color Vision
Arms same length as legs
Arms longer than legs
Some live in South America Only live in Africa and Asia Have tail
No tail
Walks on palms of hands
Walks on knuckles/fists
Deep, narrow chest
Wide, compressed chest
Smaller brains
Larger brains
Runs and jumps in trees
Swings in the trees
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Primatology Curriculum - Session 3
Activity 3 – Playing ‘House’
Mentor Preparation – Cutting Ribbons for Social Organizations Before Session 3, mentors must prepare the bags and pre-cut pieces of ribbons for each of the social organization reenactments in Activity 3 – Playing ‘House.’ Use the primate picture printouts to show the mini-scientists which primates they are representing during the different social organization reenactments. 1. Find four shopping-sized plastic bags. 2. Write the below social organizations on the bags using a magic marker or tape labels. Except for the female bag, each bag will represent a different social group. a. Female Ecological Space b. Semi-Solitary (i.e., orangutans) c. Monogamy (i.e., gibbons) d. Polyandry (i.e., golden lion tamarins) e. Polygyny (i.e., gorillas) 3. Using the barricade tape provided in your Session 3 materials, cut the barricade tape into the below specified measurements and place them in the corresponding social organization bag. a. Female Ecological Space i. One piece of pink ribbon measuring _____ meters for each mini-scientist female in your club. b. Semi-Solitary i. One long piece of turquoise ribbon measuring _____ meters to represent the flanged (alpha) orangutan male. ii. _____ smaller pieces turquoise ribbon measuring _____ meters to represent the outlying non-flanged orangutan males. c. Monogamy i. _____ pieces of purple ribbon measuring _____ meters to represent the most fit gibbon males with larger territories. ii. _____ pieces purple ribbon measuring _____ meters to represent the average fit gibbon males with medium-sized territories. iii. _____ pieces purple ribbon measure _____ meters to represent the gibbon less fit gibbon males with too small of a territory to attract a female. d. Polyandry i. _____ pieces of orange ribbon measuring _____ meters that requires two
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Activity 3 – Playing ‘House’
tamarin males to combine their barricade tape to make a large enough territory for one female. ii. _____ pieces of orange ribbon measuring _____ meters that requires three tamarin males to combine their barricade tape to make a large enough territory for one female. e. Polygyny i. One long piece of green ribbon measuring _____ meters to represent the silverback (alpha) gorilla. ii. _____ pieces of green ribbon measuring _____ meters to represent the blackback males on the periphery. 4. Make sure the ribbons are separated by color in the appropriately labeled bags and that they are mixed together so it is not clear which pieces are long and which are short. Tie or seal each of the bags shut so the pieces of ribbon do not fall out. 5. Bring all five bags with you for Session 3 – Activity 3: Playing ‘House.’
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Activity 3 – Playing ‘House’
Semi-Solitary: Orangutans
Male (non-flanged) Female with baby
Non-flanged males look like females, but flanged males are much bigger and have flanged cheeks, throat sacs, and long (sometimes dreadlocked) hair.
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Activity 3 – Playing ‘House’
Monogamy: Gibbons
Female Male
In some gibbon species, females and males are different colors. Females have golden hair and males have black hair.
Female with baby
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Male
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Activity 3 – Playing ‘House’
Polyandry: Golden Lion Tamarins
Female with baby
Three Males
Male
Female with baby
Golden Lion Tamarin Family
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Activity 3 – Playing ‘House’
Polygyny: Mountain Gorillas
Silverback Male (alpha)
Blackback Male
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Blackback Male
Female with baby
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Activity 3 – Playing ‘House’
Polygamy (also called Polygynandry): Rhesus Macaques
Females with babies
Males
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Activity 3 – Playing ‘House’
Fission-Fusion Promiscuity: Chimpanzees
All Male Grooming Party Alpha Male
Male and Female Resting Party
Male
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Activity 4 – Primate Species Mad-Libs Take Home Research
I am studying the _________________________________________________________________, (primate species common name and Latin name)
which is found in _______________________________ of _______________________________. (habitat type)
(country and continent)
____________________________ spend most of their time _______________________________, (primate species)
(part of the habitat)
so they are considered____________________________________. (terrestrial or arboreal)
_________________________________ are active ______________________________________, (primate species)
(time of day)
so they are _________________________________. (diurnal or nocturnal)
________________________________ eat ____________________________________________ (primate species)
(food items)
so are considered_______________________________________________________. (insectivores, frugivores, folivores, omnivores, carnivores)
________________________ live in groups with ________________________________________ (primate species)
(offspring, multiple females, multiple males)
so are considered____________________________________________________________. (semi-solitary, monogamous, polyandrous, polygyny, polygamous, fission-fusion)
_________________ are ________________________ and efforts should be made to protect them. (primate species)
(conservation status)
One fun fact about __________________________ is ____________________________________ (primate species)
_______________________________________________________________________________. (fun fact)
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