Intended audience
Although these materials were developed for use in grades 6 – 12, they have been used successfully with students as young as grade 3, and as old as college undergraduates. Both audience and presenter do not need to have any background knowledge about primates; however the materials work best when incorporated into units dealing with the appropriate topic — conservation, scientific classification, or animal behavior.
What you will find on this site
This site includes 72 slide images with a complete text to accompany your slide presentation. You will also find suggestions for classroom activities that can be used in conjunction with the slide presentation. Two bibliographies — one of books about primates aimed at children or accessible to a student audience, and one for teachers or students looking for more information — are included. The teacher bibliography lists both books and audio-visual materials.
How to use the script
The text to be read aloud is found on the left hand side of each page; slide image descriptions and other useful information is found on the bottom. The annotations on the bottom include a description of each slide; the scientific name of each species shown; pronunciation guides for the common names of unfamiliar species; notes with more information about the slide or the text; and questions which can be used to elicit student response to the slide. The notes provide help in answering questions students may ask based on the slide or the script. A few questions are designated as more appropriate for younger students. Some questions are designed to lead to class discussion and have no right answer. The answers to the remaining questions can be found by looking at the slide or reading the text. Terms which may be new to your students and the common names of primate species, are introduced by italics in the script, as in this example:
Many primates live in trees, an arboreal habitat. All primates show good grasping ability with their hands and feet. This sifaka is demonstrating vertical clinging to a tree trunk.
Permission to use materials
Any textual materials included in this site may be reproduced for use in the classroom. All slide images are copyrighted by the photographer and may not be reproduced.
We want your comments!
Let us know how you used these materials, and your suggestions for their use by other teachers. We plan to update this package periodically with your comments and contributed activities from classroom teacher