In this lesson, students will learn the theories of how dogs were domesticated from wolves and the reasons why people subsequently bred dogs living in different places to do different tasks. They will focus on specific breeds of their choice and will conclude by designing a class-wide "geographical dog show."

Geography, life sciences

Standard 8: "The characteristics and spatial distribution of ecosystems on Earth's surface"

Three to five hours

• Computer with Internet access
• Wall map of the world
• Construction paper
• Drawing materials

Students will

• act out two scenarios to illustrate the possible ways dogs were domesticated;
• use a Web site to determine which dogs have been bred to have certain characteristics;
• choose a specific dog breed and answer questions about the specific types of environment and climate this dog is suited for, and the parts of the world where this breed first developed;
• design posters illustrating what they have learned about their chosen dog breeds; and
• arrange their posters around the classroom into a "geographical dog show."

Ask students to describe several dog breeds they are familiar with. What types of dogs do they have or know about?

Show students this picture of a wolf from the cover of the January 2002 issue of National Geographic Magazine. Ask them if any of their dogs, or dogs they know, look like wolves. Do they think the dog in this picture looks anything like a wolf? Explain that although dogs and wolves can look very different (with the exception of a few dog breeds such as the Malamute), they are very closely related.

Refer to a world map while telling the class that wolves historically roamed throughout most of the northern hemisphere, including North America, Europe, and Asia. They were hunted vigorously until they were completely eliminated from many areas. Today, they live in parts of Canada, the northern United States (Minnesota, Wisconsin, Montana, Wyoming), China, Mexico, Spain, and a few other places.

Explain that although people hunted wolves, they also domesticated them. Today's dogs are descendants of wolves that lived tens of thousands of years ago.

Paraphrase for the class the first paragraph at National Geographic Magazine's Wolf to Woof: The Evolution of Dogs, which describes the possible scenarios by which dogs became domesticated. If time permits, act out the two scenarios:

Scenario 1: Humans adopted wolf pups, choosing those that were less aggressive and better at begging for food.

• Assign a few students to the role of early humans; the rest of the class will be wolf pups.
• The humans will have some "food," which might be represented by pens or pencils (or by real food, if you prefer).
• Tell half of the pups that they like to beg for food. Tell the other half of the pups to be "wild"—wary of humans and therefore not as adept at begging.
• The beggar pups should beg and be given some "food" accordingly. The non-beggar pups might beg a little but will be much more shy than the beggars.
• Ask students to "freeze" and discuss these questions: Which of the wolf pups get the food? Which don't? Which group has to do more work hunting for food? Which is more likely to starve or get sick?
• Have the non-beggars sit down, as they have gone out hunting or are weak from starvation.
• Students will notice that only the beggar pups are left in the vicinity of the people. Explain to the students that as the beggar pups mate and have more pups, they will pass along their begging behaviors and their tendency to feel comfortable around people. After a few generations they will be a domesticated breed that will not have to go out hunting any more.

Scenario 2: Dogs domesticated themselves by becoming scavengers that looked for food at human trash dumps. Animals that were less likely to flee from people became increasingly tame through the generations.

• Designate an area of the classroom to be the "dump" where people have thrown their food waste.
• Ask some students to be brave wolves that go up to the dump for food, while others are afraid of people and therefore stay away from the dump.
• Ask students what will happen to the wolves that stay away from the dump? They will have to go out hunting in order to avoid starvation. The ones that aren't afraid of the dump will become a little lazy about hunting and will wait for people to deposit their food into the dump.
• When the garbage-loving wolves mate, their pups will be more likely to have the traits that make them comfortable around people.

Explain that, no matter which scenario is correct, dogs have definitely been bred over the centuries to have certain characteristics that people find desirable. Some are excellent hunters, while others are better watchdogs. Some can pull heavy sleds in extremely cold weather, while others can run up to forty miles per hour.

Have students look for information about different dog breeds at the Dog Breed Info Center and the American Kennel Club. Write the following dog breeds and behavioral characteristics on the board and ask students to match the breed with the characteristic that describes it.

Dog breeds:

• Alaskan Malamute
• Cocker Spaniel (English)
• Otterhound
• Rhodesian Ridgeback
• Saluki
• St. Bernard

Behavioral characteristics:

• A good swimmer [Otterhound]
• Good in extremely cold weather [Alaskan Malamute]
• Good for mountain rescues [St. Bernard]
• Good in hot weather [Rhodesian Ridgeback]
• An incredibly fast runner, even in difficult desert terrain [Saluki]
• Skilled at hunting and retrieving birds [Cocker Spaniel]

Discuss students' lists as a class. Make sure they understand that, over the centuries, people have deliberately mated dogs with these characteristics to create the breeds students saw at the Web site.

Have each student or pair of students choose another dog breed from the Dog Breed Info Center and the American Kennel Club (one not from the original list). Ask them to answer these questions about the breed they choose:

• In what part or parts of the world was this dog breed developed?
• Which of these dog's physical features help it live in this location (e.g., long fur for mountains or in the far North)?
• Why was this dog breed developed? What did people want this dog to do for them?
• Which of these dog's physical features help it do its "jobs" for people (e.g., the bloodhound's extremely keen sense of smell makes it suitable for tracking people as well as other animals)?
• Does this dog look anything like a wolf? Do you think this dog could share the same habitat as a wolf?

Discuss students' findings as a class. Which of the dogs they have read about would students most like to have as pets? Why?

Ask students to pretend there is going to be a dog show in their classroom. Different breeds of dogs will be invited to show off their beautiful coats, hunting abilities, graceful running, or whatever characteristics they are most proud of. One unique thing about this dog show is that it will be geographical—dogs will have places around the room that are determined by the type of landscape and climate they have been bred to inhabit.

Have each student choose a breed of dog he or she would like to learn more about from the Dog Breed Info Center and the American Kennel Club (the breed can be one from the lesson above, but should be one that the individual student has not yet studied). Ask each student to prepare a small poster that shows the dog and describes its characteristics and geographic origins.

Designate different parts of the classroom to correspond to the geographical locations where students' dogs will be. Give them the option to choose the mountains, extremely cold climates (e.g., the far North), the hills where sheep like to graze (e.g., Scotland or Ireland), warm and dry climates (e.g., Egypt), the coast, river settings, or other types of places that they think their dog would like, based on what they have learned about the breed's history. Have students place their dog posters in the appropriate locations around the room.

Ask students to note the other breeds that are in the same geographical location as their own breed. Do the breeds from the same geographical location share certain characteristics? Do they look alike?

Ask students to observe the same dog for at least one hour. Ideally, they will be able to observe the dog several times over the course of a week. The dog may be their own pet or someone else's.

If students can't find dogs to observe, let them watch a video that shows domestic dogs acting reasonably "normally" (e.g., not dancing around in people's clothing or jumping on wedding banquet tables).

Have students record the dog's behaviors. Then ask them to research wolf behaviors and write reports comparing and contrasting the dog they have observed to the way a wolf might behave. Do they think the wolf would do the same things the domestic dog did? Why or why not?

American Kennel Club
Dog Breed Information and Breeder Listing
National Geographic Coloring Book: Gray Wolves
National Geographic: GeoguideWolves
National Geographic: Wolf to WoofThe Evolution of Dogs