Rutherford County Schools – Individual Learning Modules Grade Course

6th Grade Science Unit Focus

Obtain information about different ways animals communicate—auditory, visual, or both. Design a solution for how to evaluate a noise reduction strategy or device with an emphasis on reducing the effects of noise pollution on animal communication and the resulting loss of biodiversity.

Week of 5/4 – 5/8 Standard(s)

6.LS2.7 Compare and contrast auditory and visual methods of communication among organisms in relation to survival strategies of a population.

Online & Paper Resource(s) Visit your teacher’s website for a digital copy of this document, as well as multiple Microsoft Forms to

respond to the Lesson and Observational Task. All links listed below are found on your teacher’s website.

You can still complete the Lesson and Observational Task without digital access. If you do not have Internet access, please read the articles to assist you in completing the activities.

This lesson is broken into three parts. Part 1: Your student will need to visit your teacher’s website to respond. If you do not have Internet access, your student may write down their answers and observations.

1. Phenomenon: Watch “You’ll Never Guess Which Animals Make These Sounds” and “11 Weird Ways Animals Communicate”.

• Make observations about the different ways animals communicate. • Develop questions about the causes for the different behaviors and sounds. • Discussion questions:

o How are these sounds related to survival? • Construct an explanation that describes which form of communication relates to what specific

survival strategy (e.g. competition, finding food, avoiding predators, avoiding disease, migration, reproduction, warning, etc.).

2. Obtain information about different ways animals communicate—auditory, visual, or both—using the videos and article below. If you do not have Internet access, write down your observations from the videos and articles. You may create a chart of your observations if needed. Take notes of the type of communication—auditory or visual—the specific way they are communicating, and how this type of communication helps with survival.

• Animal Communication: FuseSchool • TED-Ed: Do animals have language? • Information Exchange: Bozeman Science • Types of animal communication: Khan Academy • Communication Behavior in Animals: ck-12 3. Complete the Venn diagram below to compare and contrast auditory and visual communication.

Part 2: Your student will need to visit your teacher’s website to respond. If you do not have Internet access, your student may write down their answers and observations. 1. Using the document given, choose three organisms, one from each category, to research their methods

of communication and how this enables them to survive in their population.

Rutherford County Schools – Individual Learning Modules

Part 1 Venn Diagram Complete the Venn diagram below to compare and contrast auditory and visual communication.

• Compare and contrast auditory and visual methods of communication among organisms in relation to survival strategies of a population.

Part 3: Your student will need to visit your teacher’s website to respond. If you do not have Internet access, your student may write down their answers and observations. 1. Obtain information about the consequences of human activity, particularly noise pollution, on animal

populations and ecosystems and how noise pollution is being reduced in national parks from the following resources: • Noise pollution threatens animals • How noise pollution from humans is wreaking havoc on U.S. wildlife • Noise Pollution Threatens Birds • Infographic: Noise pollution and animals • Reducing Noise in National Parks

2. Design a solution for how to evaluate a noise reduction strategy or device with an emphasis on reducing the effects of noise pollution on animal communication and the resulting loss of biodiversity. (Click here for a rubric.)

Observational Task(s) Observational Task: Your student will need to visit your teacher’s website to respond. If you do not have Internet access, your student may write down their answers and observations. Go on a nature walk and observe different organisms and their forms of communication. Keep a journal describing the organism, its communication, and how this communication helps it survive.

Expected Outcomes Part 2 Expected Outcome

Visual Communication

Auditory Communication

Both

Rutherford County Schools – Individual Learning Modules

Part 1 Article Source: https://www.khanacademy.org/science/biology/behavioral-biology/animal-behavior/a/animal-communication Introduction Have you ever wondered how ants follow what seem to be invisible trails leading to food? Why male dogs mark their territory by peeing on bushes and lampposts when you take them for a walk? What birds are saying to one another when they chirp outside your window? If so, you're in the right place! In this article, we'll take a look at these—and many other—forms of communication used in the animal kingdom. Communication takes many forms Communication—when we're talking about animal behavior—can be any process where information is passed from one animal to another causing a change or response in the receiving animal. Communication most often happens between members of a species, though it can also take place between different species. For instance, your dog may bark at you to ask for a treat! Some species are very social, living in groups and interacting all the time; communication is essential for keeping these groups cohesive and organized. However, even animals that are relative loners usually have to communicate at least a little, if only to find a mate. What forms can communication behaviors take? Well, animal sensory systems vary quite a great deal. For instance, a dog's sense of smell is 40 times more acute than ours! Because of this sensory diversity, different animals communicate using a wide range of stimuli, known collectively as signals. Below are some common types of signals: • Pheromones—chemicals • Auditory cues—sounds • Visual cues • Tactile cues—touch In some cases, signals can even be electric! Where does this diversity of communication behaviors come from? Like other traits, communication behaviors—and/or the capacity for learning these behaviors—arise through natural selection. Heritable communication behaviors that increase an organism's likelihood of surviving and reproducing will tend to persist and become common in a population or species. In the rest of the article, we'll look at some examples of the many ways that animals can communicate with one another. Pheromones A pheromone is a secreted chemical signal used to trigger a response in another individual of the same species. Pheromones are especially common among social insects, such as ants and bees. Pheromones may attract the opposite sex, raise an alarm, mark a food trail, or trigger other, more complex behaviors. The diagram below shows pheromone trails laid down by ants to direct others in the colony to sources of food. When a food source is rich, ants will deposit pheromone on both the outgoing and return legs of their trip, building up the trail and attracting more ants. When the food source is about to run out, the ants will stop adding pheromone on the way back, letting the trail fade out.

Rutherford County Schools – Individual Learning Modules

Ants also use pheromones to communicate their social status, or role, in the colony, and ants of different "castes" may respond differently to the same pheromone signal. A squashed ant will also release a burst of pheromones that warns nearby ants of danger—and may incite them to swarm and sting. Dogs also communicate using pheromones. They sniff each other to collect this chemical information, and many of the chemicals are also released in their urine. By peeing on a bush or post, a dog leaves a mark of its identity that can be read by other passing dogs and may stake its claim to nearby territory. Auditory signals Auditory communication—communication based on sound—is widely used in the animal kingdom. Auditory communication is particularly important in birds, who use sounds to convey warnings, attract mates, defend territories, and coordinate group behaviors. Some birds also produce birdsong, vocalizations that are relatively long and melodic and tend to be similar among the members of a species.

Many non-bird species also communicate using sound: • Monkeys cry out a warning when a predator is near, giving the other members of the troop a chance to

escape. Vervet monkeys even have different calls to indicate different predators.

Rutherford County Schools – Individual Learning Modules

• Bullfrogs croak to attract female frogs as mates. In some frog species, the sounds can be heard up to a mile away!

• Gibbons use calls to mark their territory, keeping potential competitors away. A paired male and female, and even their offspring, may make the calls together. Water, like air, can carry sound waves, and marine animals also use sound to communicate. Dolphins, for instance, produce various noises—including whistles, chirps, and clicks—and arrange them in complex patterns. The idea that this might represent a form of language is intriguing but controversial. Visual signals Visual communication involves signals that can be seen. Examples of these signals include gestures, facial expressions, body postures, and coloration. Gesture and posture are widely used visual signals. For instance, chimpanzees communicate a threat by raising their arms, slapping the ground, or staring directly at another chimpanzee. Gestures and postures are commonly used in mating rituals and may place other signals—such as bright coloring—on display. Facial expressions are also used to convey information in some species. For instance, what is known as the fear grin—shown on the face of the young chimpanzee below—signals submission. This expression is used by young chimpanzees when approaching a dominant male in their troop to indicate they accept the male's dominance.

Changes in coloration also serve as visual signals. For instance, in some species of monkeys, the skin around a female’s reproductive organs becomes brightly colored when the female is in the fertile stage of her reproductive cycle. The color change signals that the female can be approached by suitors. An organism's general coloration—rather than a change in color—may also act as a visual signal. For instance, the bright coloration of some toxic species, such as the poison dart frog, acts as a do-not-eat warning signal to predators.

Rutherford County Schools – Individual Learning Modules

Tactile signals—touch Tactile signals are more limited in range than the other types of signals, as two organisms must be right next to each other in order to touch. Still, these signals are an important part of the communication repertoire of many species. Tactile signals are fairly common in insects. For instance, a honeybee forager that's found a food source will perform an intricate series of motions called a waggle dance to indicate the location of the food. Since this dance is done in darkness inside the nest, the other bees interpret it largely through touch. Tactile signals also play an important role in social relationships. For instance, in many primate species, members of a group will groom one another—removing parasites and performing other hygiene tasks. This largely tactile behavior reinforces cooperation and social bonds among group members.

Tactile stimuli also play a role in the survival of very young organisms. For instance, newborn puppies will instinctively knead at their mother's mammary glands, causing the release of the hormone oxytocin and production of milk. What is communication used for? As the examples above illustrate, animals communicate using many different types of signals, and they also use these signals in a wide range of contexts. Here are some of the most common functions of communication:

• Obtaining mates. Many animals have elaborate communication behaviors surrounding mating, which may involve attracting a mate or competing with other potential suitors for access to mates.

• Establishing dominance or defending territory. In many species, communication behaviors are important in establishing dominance in a social hierarchy or defending territory.

Rutherford County Schools – Individual Learning Modules

• Coordinating group behaviors. In social species, communication is key in coordinating the activities of the group, such as food acquisition and defense, and in maintaining group cohesion.

• Caring for young. Among species that provide parental care to offspring, communication coordinates parent and offspring behaviors to help ensure that the offspring will survive. As these examples show, communication helps organisms interact to carry out basic life functions, such as surviving, obtaining mates, and caring for young.

Rutherford County Schools – Individual Learning Modules

Part 2 Animal Communication Research Guide: Choose at least three animals, one from each list, and research their communication methods. Determine if each uses visual communication, auditory communication or both types of communication. Communication Type A

• Timber Rattlesnake • Northern Mockingbird • Gray Bats • Gray Squirrel • Raccoon • Sandhill Crane

Communication Type B • Whitetail Deer • Bluegill • Rainbow Trout • European Honey Bee • Striped Skunk • Ladybug • Firefly

Communication Type C

• Coyote • Channel Catfish • Turkey • Opossum • Eastern Box Turtle • Bobwhite Quail

Part 3 Infographic (next page) Source: https://www.science.org.au/curious/noise-pollution-and-animals

What type of communication do you think the animals in

group A use?

What type of communication do you think the animals in

group B use?

What type of communication do you think the animals in

group C use?

Rutherford County Schools – Individual Learning Modules