What Kind of Mind: Lesson 4 Philosophy and Communication

Lesson 4: Philosophy and Communication

This lesson continues to consider the close evolutionary relationship between humans and chimpanzees, looking at how they communicate. There is a video about research on chimpanzee communication.

• What is language? 
• Is animal communication the same as language? 
• How can we understand and evaluate different forms of communication? 

Skills:

• Curriculum for Excellence SCN 2-01a, SCN 2-14a, SCN 2-14b, SCN 2-20a, SCN 2-20b
• Teamwork and group discussion skills
• Forming a reasoned argument and presenting it to the group
• Applying previously understood concepts to more applied or complex situations
• Creativity and reflection on unfamiliar situations

Key Resources:

• Lesson slides, L4: Lesson slides, prompting discussions on the different kinds of communication and language.
• Lesson plan, L4: Outline of the lesson activities and the associated skills and resources.
• Teacher notes, L4: More detailed information surrounding the discussion of language and communication, as well as instructions for the non-verbal communication task and chimp language activity.
• Annotated slides, L4: Instructions for teachers, associated with the particular lesson slide.

Worksheets: (These resources can also be easily printed as part of the student work booklet)

• Chimp communication worksheet: Worksheet associated with the chimp communication task on slide 11 (including the tasks for the teachers to allocate) and the video comprehension from slide 13.

Additional resources: 

• A Brief Guide to Language: Some background information on how language develops, what language actually is, and the main differences between human and ape communication. 

 Printable resources for all lessons:

• Student workbook: This booklet contains all of the written class activities for students, condensing the resources into a booklet of five sheets of paper (so 20, A5 pages for the students to work on). Although the PDF may look like the pages are in an *interesting* order, if printed correctly they will fold into the booklet. To do this, ensure that printing is double sided, and that the printer is set to flip pages on the short edge. 
• Student prints: This printing resource contains all of the individual sheets to be used by the students throughout the project such as the images to be stuck into their booklets and the researcher questionnaires. The document is designed to be printed double sided, meaning that there are some blank pages so individual resources can be separated. [Page breakdown: (P1-2) Pre-program questionnaire, (P3-P4) Post-program questionnaire, (P5) Lesson 1 Images for intelligence task, (P6) Blank, (P7) Lesson 3 Images for the family tree task, (P8) Blank, (P9) Lesson 6 Images for intelligence task.]
• Teacher prints: This printing resource contains all sheets the teachers will use throughout the project  including teacher questionnaires and answer sheets. The document is designed to be printed double sided, meaning that there are some blank pages so that each individual resource can be separated. [Page breakdown: (P1-P4) Pre-program questionnaire, (P5-P9) Post-program questionnaire, (P10) blank, (P11) Lesson 3 answers, (P12) blank, (P13) Lesson 4 communication task.] 

"Living Links" Learning Programme at RZSS

A bespoke learning programme of interactive, interdisciplinary and online sessions on themes from What Kind of Mind? has been developed by the "Living Links" collaboration between the University of St Andrews and RZSS aiming to deepen learners' connections with nature, increase awareness of how our minds affect our health and wellbeing, and promote an understanding of the role of research in scientific development.

This free resource can be found on the RZSS Discovery and Learning ZOOdle (Zoo "Digital Learning Environment") website at https://discover.rzss.org.uk/livinglinks.