Posted: June 9th, 2022

Jane Goodall: Among the Wild Chimpanzees

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Primatologists, as the name implies, deal with the study of primates, also known as, ourselves, and our closest living relatives. The main method they use comes in the form of observation. A primatologist will go out and closely observe the species they are studying, similar to cultural anthropologists who use ethnography, primatologists use these same ideas when looking at the subjects they are observing. They will try to keep themselves hidden so that they may not influence the behavior of the primates they are studying. They jot there notes down in their journal or diary and analyze their notes after a days work. These notes can be filled with information pertaining to what their subjects were eating, how many of the group were present for a specific activity, how the group is structured, lineage, etc,. In this Final Observation Paper, each of you will take on that role of Primatologist within the scopes of the primates you choose to observe. Remember there is a 3 primate MINIMUM, meaning you can do more than 3 if you so wish.
You will watch one video for this class titled “Jane Goodall: Among the Wild Chimpanzees,” which you can use for your paper. When writing your notes for this activity make sure you are paying attention to the actions and behaviors of the chimpanzees, as the narrator can sometimes focus solely on Jane Goodall, and for the parameters of this exercise she does NOT MATTER.
When observing primates their are multiple ways one can go about writing their notes, however, for the simplicity of this exercise and class, you will simply go for the bullet-point style:
– Meaning you will simply bullet point each observational action you choose to document
– These notes can be as detailed as you want or as simple (just remember, these notes are for your paper, and we are watching a video so if they are not as detailed the first time you can always go back and re-watch it when typing your paper to better detail your observations)
– I want to be able, through your words, to see an image in my head of what you are seeing (being detailed is KEY)
– Detail not only helps me understand what you are observing, but being more detailed means more words on your paper meaning you are using up more space 😉
– For example, there will be a point in the movie where Flo will be showing her child how to fish for termites
> Flo sat down next to a tree with her legs crossed and began pulling at one of the branches. She was able to rip the branch off with her right hand and began to pull the leaves off the branch until there were none left. She then used her right hand with the branch and then inserted the tip of the branch into the termite mound. She waited a few seconds and then proceeded to pull the branch out of the hole. She then lifted the branch up to her mouth and used her tongue to gently begin taking the termites off and eating them. She did this action multiple times until she was done after a few minutes.
– See it fills up quite nicely and that was only for one action
– However one could possibly be even more detailed and use other aspects such as the number of individuals present, the time of day, weather conditions, etc.
– As you seen from the example above names are also a plus in this situation. So, if your videos don’t have any names make some up. This allows for clarity in your paper. Some students will sometimes opt for the “Chimp A” and “Chimp B” approach. Please do not go that way. After reading those terms repeatedly it becomes quite arduous to understand whats going on in the observation as it all begins to meld together. So I would push you to go with actual names for your subjects like “Shortbread” or “Pumpernickel.”
When it comes to your Final Observation Paper there is indeed a format it must follow, the Scientific Method. So when writing your paper you will incorporate Headings and Subheadings following the order of the scientific method. You will include:
– Hypothesis/Introduction
Where students will “predict” or “guess” what will happen in the videos they will watch. For example, “For my observation, I think that primates will not do much and will simply just lay about on the ground.”
– Methods
Tell us what videos you watched, what they were about, what websites you used, how you looked for and found these videos
Usually you would be able to go to the Zoo, however, that is obviously not an option anymore
– Observations
Primate #1
Primate #2
Primate #3
– Conclusions
Was you hypothesis correct? Were all primates you observed doing nothing and laying around? What would you do differently next time? Would you change which primates you observed next time? How would your methods change next time? Were the primates you observed similar in any behavioral way?
– Bibliography/Work Cited
Citations for all the movies, videos, and clips you used
Each section is important to your paper and must be labeled accordingly.
Your Hypothesis section can include more than one hypothesis. Some students will include one hypothesis for every primate they observe and adjust each hypothesis for each particular species they are observing. However, remember that you have to also include a conclusion for each hypothesis you create at the end.
You could also include pictures into your paper, however, they must correspond and belong to the video you are watching (screen-shotting scenes during your video is a good approach for this). The picture however must only fill 1/4 (one-quarter) of the page or less and cannot be any bigger.
below i have attatched a sample essay format.
3 different primates observations are required!!
Links to primate video suggestions