Through a Window: My Thirty Years with the Chimpanzees of Gombe

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1 Name Date Class TEACHING RESOURCES SUPPLEMENTAL READING 8 : My Thirty Years with the Chimpanzees of Gombe Jane Goodall Synopsis In 1960, Jane Goodall was sent to Tanzania to study chimpanzees. It was hoped that her observations would provide humans with a better understanding of their closest relatives. What evolved from that mission was a 30-year study of a chimpanzee community in Gombe. In an effort to share her experiences with the layperson, Jane Goodall wrote two nonfiction texts about the years she spent with the chimpanzees at Gombe. The first text, In the Shadow of Man, tells the story of the author s first 10 years at Gombe. Its sequel, : My Thirty Years with the Chimpanzees of Gombe, explores Goodall s last 20 years of research. The text chronicles the life of a community of chimpanzees. It describes the social interactions of its members, their search for power and love, and the relationships between parents and offspring. The text provides the reader with a firsthand glimpse of animal behavior. It is the author s hope that this insight will facilitate a deeper understanding of human behavior among her readers. Student Focus You should pay close attention to the methods of scientific inquiry employed by the author and her researchers. It should be noted that Jane Goodall took great care in preserving the authenticity of the natural domain of the chimpanzees habitat. She continually tried to make sure that the chimpanzee community was unaffected by the presence of humans. Goodall wanted to observe the animals behavior as they would behave if they were completely alone, without human influence. You should think about this idea by considering both sides of the issue. Is it possible to conduct field research and leave the observed natural domain unaltered? Under what conditions might it be possible to be present in an animal s environment and not alter its behavior? Correlation to Subject Matter Evolution, Genetics, Animal Behavior, Endangered Species, and Environmental Education HOLT BIOSOURCES / Teaching Resources: Supplemental Reading 1

2 SUPPLEMENTAL READING Analyzing the Book Identifying Facts 1. What is the setting of the book? 2. For what purpose did the author go to that location? 3. What is an alpha? Give an example of one. 4. How did Goodall s mother contribute to the success of the program? 5. Why are chimpanzees used as substitutes for humans in medical research? 6. What did Goodall s observations of the female chimpanzee named Flo illustrate about the relationship between mother and child? 7. What milestone usually occurs during a chimpanzee s fourth year? 2 HOLT BIOSOURCES / Teaching Resources: Supplemental Reading

3 SUPPLEMENTAL READING Name Date Class 8. Describe a male chimpanzee s charging display, and identify its purpose. 9. What aspects of community life are primarily the male s responsibility? 10. Name three traits of Goblin that ensured his eventual high status in the chimpanzee society. 11. Identify three similarities in chimpanzee and human behavior. 12. According to the author, what is the most significant characteristic that separates humans and chimpanzees? HOLT BIOSOURCES / Teaching Resources: Supplemental Reading 3

4 SUPPLEMENTAL READING 13. Identify three chimpanzee behaviors that maintain social harmony and promote cohesion among community members. Interpreting Meanings 14. How do most scientists explain the sharing of food among chimpanzees? 15. Why was the author thrilled to watch the chimpanzee called David Greybeard trim a blade of grass and then use it to poke at a termite hole? 16. How did Project Washoe support Jane Goodall s suggestion that chimpanzees were capable of reasoning and insight? 4 HOLT BIOSOURCES / Teaching Resources: Supplemental Reading

5 SUPPLEMENTAL READING Name Date Class 17. Goodall states, It is easier to study intellectual prowess in the lab, but more meaningful to study the subject in the wild. What does the author mean by this statement? 18. What did the author s observations about power struggles among male chimpanzees indicate about the importance of coalitions? 19. What did the author s observations indicate about the effect mother-child bonding has on child development? HOLT BIOSOURCES / Teaching Resources: Supplemental Reading 5

6 SUPPLEMENTAL READING 20. According to the author, what is the main difference between patterns of aggression demonstrated by chimpanzees and those demonstrated by humans? 21. Suppose Goodall designed a new study to be conducted at Gombe. What would she likely include in her design? 22. What does Goodall believe to be humanity s greatest sin against nature? Do you agree? Explain why. Applying Meanings 23. In the title, as well as throughout the book, Goodall refers to looking through a window. What is that window? What does she see as she glances through it? 6 HOLT BIOSOURCES / Teaching Resources: Supplemental Reading

7 SUPPLEMENTAL READING Name Date Class Writing About the Book On a separate sheet of paper, write the answer to each of the following. Extending the Book 1. Imagine that you are Jane Goodall. Prepare a detailed outline for your next investigation of the chimpanzee community at Gombe. Specify the focus of your study, and describe how you would collect your information. Be sure your investigation attempts to preserve the natural conditions of the environment. Thinking about Assumptions 2. Prior to Goodall s study, it was assumed that the human was the only toolmaking animal. How did the author disprove this assumption? What does the initial assumption indicate about humanity s concept of other organisms? Responding to a Review 3. A reviewer stated, Jane Goodall s work with chimpanzees represents one of the Western world s greatest scientific achievements. Do you agree with this statement? Explain why. Evaluating a Character 4. When Goodall first went to Gombe in 1960, she was a young secretarial school graduate sent to observe a community of chimpanzees in their natural surroundings. During her thirty years of research, she became an expert in her field. What personal traits helped Jane Goodall make this transformation? Writing a Journal Entry 5. Imagine that you are a working at the Gombe Stream Research Center. Write an entry in your field book describing the social behavior you observed among your subjects. Analyzing Animal Issues 6. Pretend you are Jane Goodall. Write a letter to the editor of a local newspaper describing your feelings about public zoos. HOLT BIOSOURCES / Teaching Resources: Supplemental Reading 7

8 SUPPLEMENTAL READING Testing On the Book On a separate sheet of paper, write the answer to each of the following. Critical Thinking and Writing 1. Goodall states that learning about chimpanzee behavior and their place in nature helps humans understand some aspects of their own behavior. What did this book teach you about human behavior? 2. Louis Leakey believed that behavior common to modern humans and modern chimpanzees was probably present in our common ancestor, and therefore, in early man himself. If Leakey was correct, what behaviors were likely present in early humans? 3. Goodall states that her studies at Gombe serve to humble humanity. What does she mean by this statement? 4. Is the author against the total use of animals in laboratory testing? Explain your answer. 5. Which of the chimpanzees described in the text did you find most intriguing? Explain why. 8 HOLT BIOSOURCES / Teaching Resources: Supplemental Reading

9 Answer Key 8 TEACHING RESOURCES ANSWER KEYS Supplemental Reading : My Thirty Years with the Chimpanzees of Gombe Analyzing the Book Identifying Facts 1. The story takes place at a research center in Gombe, Tanzania, from 1960 through Jane Goodall was sent to Tanzania in 1960 to study chimpanzees. It was hoped that her observations would provide humans with an understanding of their closest relatives. 3. An alpha is the top-ranking male of a chimpanzee community. Examples of alphas described in the text include Goblin, Figan, and Humphrey. 4. During her visit to Gombe, the author s mother set up a clinic that provided medicines to the local people. This act helped the author secure the goodwill of the local population. 5. Chimpanzees are more like humans than any other living creature. There is a close resemblance in the physiology of the two species. The structure of their DNA differs by just over 1 percent. 6. Through her observations of Flo, the author learned to honor the role of the mother in a society and to appreciate the importance of good mothering to both the child and mother. 7. During the fourth year, weaning generally occurs. During this time, the mother prevents her child from both suckling and from riding on her back. 8. During a charging display, the male chimpanzee s hair stands on end and he leaps up to shake vegetation, stamps on the ground, slaps at objects, throws rocks, and scowls. These actions serve to make him look big and dangerous, thereby intimidating other members of the community. 9. Patrolling, repelling intruders, searching out distant food sources, and some kinds of hunting are the primary jobs of male chimpanzees. 10. Traits that ensured Goblin s high status in the community were that he was always determined to get his own way, he hated to be dominated, he was intelligent and courageous, and he could not tolerate disputes among his subordinates. 11. Both chimpanzees and humans show affectionate, supportive, and enduring bonds between family members. They have long periods of childhood HOLT BIOSOURCES / Teaching Resources: Answer Keys 1

10 ANSWER KEYS Supplemental Reading: : My Thirty Years with the Chimpanzees of Gombe Identifying Facts dependency. They employ nonverbal communication patterns, cooperate in hunting, and have aggressive territorial and sophisticated social manipulations. 12. The author believes that the ability to communicate through the use of a sophisticated spoken language is the most significant distinction between humans and chimpanzees. 13. Chimpanzee behaviors that maintain social harmony and promote cohesion among community members include: embracing, kissing, and holding hands to greet one another; peaceful sessions of relaxed social grooming; sharing of food; and readiness to help companions in distress. 14. Most scientists believe that chimpanzees share food simply to get rid of an irritation the begging companion. Interpreting Meanings 15. David Greybeard s actions showed that chimpanzees were toolmaking animals, capable of creating and then modifying a tool to suit a specific purpose. 16. Project Washoe demonstrated that chimpanzees minds are quite similar to humans. They have evolved a variety of complex intellectual powers. They are capable of cross-modal transfer of information, have some type of selfconcept, and possess excellent memories. 17. It is easier to study intellectual prowess in the lab, where carefully devised tests and judicious use of rewards encourage the subjects to stretch their minds to the limit. It is more meaningful to study the subject in the wild because that natural arena affords a view of the environmental pressures that led to the evolution of specific intellectual skills. 18. Her observations of power struggles among males showed that an adult male has a much better chance of successfully reaching the top of the community if he has an ally. The coalition supports the male with the knowledge that he has a friend who will consistently come to his aid in time of need and will not side with a rival. 19. The author s observations indicated that the offspring of caring, supportive, successful mothers thrived and became good mothers who tended to produce many offspring. Offspring who were less well cared for were less likely to survive, and those who did survive were relatively poor mothers who were less likely to produce large families. 20. The author believes that while patterns of aggression are similar, only humans can deliberately inflict mental or physical pain on others. This is because the human brain allows us to understand the precise nature of the suffering inflicted by the aggression. 2 HOLT BIOSOURCES / Teaching Resources: Answer Keys

11 ANSWER KEYS Supplemental Reading: : My Thirty Years with the Chimpanzees of Gombe Interpreting Meanings 21. Goodall would likely design a long-term study that might explore the nature of chimpanzees aggressiveness, their capacity for care and compassion, or another aspect of their social behavior. 22. According to the author, man s greatest sin against nature is his vast and mindless destruction of plant and animal species. Applying Meanings 23. The phrase through a window refers to looking past the human experience and into the unknown to search for meaning. Goodall refers to her years at Gombe as looking through a window whose panes were opened up by science. Gazing through that window taught her much about chimpanzee behavior and their place in the nature of things. Writing About the Book 1. Answers will vary but should describe a long-term study in which teams of researchers make unobtrusive observations of the chimpanzees in their natural surroundings. 2. Goodall disproved this assumption through her observations of chimpanzees adjusting leaves so that they would fit into a termite hole. Her observations showed that chimpanzees were capable of making, and then adjusting, a tool for a specific purpose. The initial assumption indicates an egocentric view of self-importance among humans. 3. Responses will likely indicate that Goodall provided the world with a keen look at the animal world that helps humans understand their own evolution. 4. Answers will vary but may include her: determination, courage, and strength; compassion for all living things; respect for life; love of nature; curiosity; attention to detail; powers of observation; and ability to withstand harsh, barren conditions. 5. Answers will vary but should describe observations of a social behavior described in the text. Possible behaviors include grooming, courtship, caring for young, and helping those in need. 6. Letters will vary but should indicate that many zoos are detrimental to the animals. Letters should also support the rights of animals and the need for humans to respect other living things. HOLT BIOSOURCES / Teaching Resources: Answer Keys 3

12 ANSWER KEYS Testing On The Book Critical Thinking and Writing 1. Answers will vary but may include: organisms are more alike than previously believed; a community is a social unit that offers protection to all of its members; the bond between mother and child is a key determinant in the success of the offspring. 2. Behaviors may include: forming communities for protection; social behaviors such as courting, caring for others, and protecting the young; and struggling for power. 3. Goodall s observations indicate that certain behaviors once thought to be solely possessed by humans are actually shared by other members of the animal kingdom. This realization serves to humble humans and to reduce our egocentric view of ourselves in relation to other living things. 4. No. The author concedes that a limited number of carefully controlled experiments involving animals is necessary for the good of humanity. However, she strongly believes that the volume of animals subjected to experimentation is too vast and that most experiments could be carried out in a more humane manner. 5. Answers will vary. Supplemental Reading: : My Thirty Years with the Chimpanzees of Gombe 4 HOLT BIOSOURCES / Teaching Resources: Answer Keys