Geoguide/tigers
Classroom Ideas: Fifth-Eighth Grade
brought to you by nationalgeographic.com and Compaq

Stalking Cats

OVERVIEW

All feline species, from tigers to house cats, share common traits and behaviors: They’re agile, they stalk, they purr, they’re furry, they have good night vision, they groom themselves meticulously. It isn’t easy studying tigers in the wild. But it’s possible to get a window on the tigers’ world by observing house cats! Students can study their own cats, dogs, and other pets to learn how zoologists learn about tigers.

Connections to the curriculum: geography, social studies

Connections to the National Geography Standards:

Standard 1: “How to use maps and other geographic representations, tools, and technologies to acquire, process, and report information from a spatial perspective”
Standard 8: “The characteristics and spatial distribution of ecosystems on Earth’s surface”

Time: Two to three hours

Materials required:

• copies of the December 1997 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC articles “Making Room for Wild Tigers” and “Sita: Life of a Wild Tigress”
  
• access to computers with Internet access (if available) for students to review Geoguide/tigers and Cats (www.nationalgeographic.com/cats)
  
• pads and pencils or pens for taking notes and sketching maps

  Purpose:

  Observe the behavior of cats, dogs, and other pets to learn more about felines in general and how their behavior contrasts with that of other animals.

  Objectives:
  

  Students will

  • discuss the plight of tigers and the similarities among tigers and other cat species;
    
  • observe and record the behavior of their own pets or those of friends;
    
  • share their findings with the class.

  SUGGESTED PROCEDURE

  Opening:
  
  

  1. Distribute copies of the December 1997 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC articles “Making Room for Wild Tigers” and “Sita: Life of a Wild Tigress” for your students to read. If possible, have them explore Cats (http://www.nationalgeographic.com/cats) online as well.
  2. Discuss big cats with your class, focusing on threats to the survival of tigers and efforts to protect them.
  3. Explain that in order to address the plight of tigers—or of any endangered species—people must observe them and understand their behavior.

  Development:

  1. Ask students to name some common behaviors of house cats that resemble those of their larger relatives, tigers. List them on the board or on an overhead transparency. These might include
  

  • stealth in stalking prey;
    
  • quick reflexes;
    
  • purring;
    
  • grooming.

  2. Ask students to make a similar list for dogs, another common house pet. Discuss the significant differences between dog and cat behavior.
  3. Ask how many of your students have pets of their own or friends and neighbors with pets. Almost all will probably have a pet or know someone who does. (If not, you can adapt this exercise by bringing a dog or cat into school and having the class observe it during a class period.)
  4. Assign your students (individually or in groups) to document the ways that pets spend time, just as a professional field zoologist would. Students should observe a pet (one of their own, or a friend’s) for two full hours. Ask them to note what the animal is doing every five minutes. Does it spend much time sleeping? Playing? Digging? Eating? Tell your students to be as unobtrusive as possible while making their observations.
  5. In addition to documenting how their pets spend time, ask students to make a sketch map of their home or their neighborhood. They should trace the animal’s path throughout the two hours on these maps, with notations about when the pet was at different locations.
  6. Have them share their observations with the class and contrast their notions of the animal’s behavior with the actual data they collected. Are there any surprises?

  Closing:

  1. Have students offer reasons why two people with the same species of pet—be they house cats, dogs, hamsters—might record very different behavior patterns. Would you expect two animals to behave identically? Is two hours enough time to get a comprehensive sense of how an animal spends its time?
  2. Ask students to share their ideas for solving the sampling problems they identify. You could share some of the techniques that working zoologists use, such as observing large populations, making observations in different seasons, and so on.

  Suggested Student Assessment:

  maps and logs of pet behavior

  
  

  plans for making a more thorough observation of a wild species, such as tigers

  Extending the lesson:

  Visit a zoo or invite a zoologist to your school.

  
  

  Megan Baker of Nova School in Lacey, Washington, contributed classroom ideas for this Geoguide.

  ©1997 National Geographic Society. All rights reserved.