In this lesson, students will learn about how dogs evolved from wolves, and the similarities and differences between dogs and wolves. They will conduct some basic research on wolves and two dog breeds and fill in a chart to show what they have learned. Students will conclude by rewriting "Little Red Riding Hood" as if the main character had encountered a Maltese or a Golden Retriever instead of a wolf.

Geography, life sciences

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

Three hours

• Computer with Internet access
• Writing and drawing materials

Students will

• color a picture of gray wolves;
• act out two scenarios to illustrate the possible ways dogs were domesticated;
• learn about characteristics of wolves and two dog breeds; and
• rewrite the story of Little Red Riding Hood using what they have learned about dogs and wolves.

Show students the National Geographic Magazine feature Wolf to Woof: The Evolution of Dogs.

Give each student a copy of the Gray Wolves coloring page, and ask them to color the picture. They can make it realistic, perhaps modeling it after the magazine cover, or whimsical and colorful.

Have students look at the magazine cover again. In a class discussion, ask them to compare and contrast the appearance of the wolf and the Maltese. Do they notice any similarities?

Ask students if they are familiar with any dogs that more closely resemble wolves. If so, how do these dogs resemble wolves?

Explain to the class that dogs and wolves are very closely related. Wolves have existed longer than dogs. About 14,000 years ago, some especially brave or tame wolves began to spend more time around people. These wolves probably liked the people's discarded food and realized that they no longer needed to hunt for their meals.

Eventually, new breeds of "wolves," now considered domestic dogs, developed. People decided to mate dogs that would give birth to puppies with certain traits, such as being good swimmers or being able to hunt foxes. This is how today's dog breeds developed.

If you have time and would like to illustrate the most likely domestication scenarios in a class simulation, follow these directions:

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?
• 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.

Make a chart on the board, and ask students to copy the chart onto their own papers. The chart should contain four rows and four columns. Label the second through fourth columns "Wolves," "Maltese," and "Golden Retriever." Label the second through fourth rows "Appearance," "Behavior," and "History" (e.g., where the animal comes from or how it evolved).

Help students fill in the chart with some of the characteristics of wolves and these two dog breeds. To do this, they will need to do some research. Older students can research this topic on the Web or in books or magazines, while younger students will need more guidance from you. Students can find information about the different dog breeds from the Dog Breed Info Center and the American Kennel Club, and about wolves at the International Wolf Center and the Wild World of Wolves. For younger children, or to save time, you can simply share with them the basic information below.

Maltese:

• The Maltese breed was created in Italy and was very popular in Europe several hundred years ago.
• The Maltese is a small dog with a long, silky white coat. It usually weighs up to seven pounds (3.2 kilograms).
• This is a very smart and playful dog. A Maltese makes a very good friend and can learn tricks.
• Maltese might snap at children who hit or bother them. Sometimes they are fussy eaters.
• They are very active indoors and do not need a lot of time outdoors.
• The Maltese gets along well with other dogs, but mostly it enjoys being with you.
• See a picture of a Maltese.

Golden Retriever:

• The Golden Retriever was developed as a breed in England, Scotland, and Wales.
• It also has a beautiful coat, but this dog is much larger than a Maltese. It is very smart and gentle.
• The Golden Retriever makes a good watch dog because it will bark when a stranger comes to the house.
• It is easy to train and loves to play fetch. It also loves to swim!
• Golden Retrievers need time outdoors to run and exercise.
• If you have a pet Golden Retriever, he or she will get along well with other dogs but doesn't need another dog in the house to keep it company.
• See a picture of a Golden Retriever.

Wolf:

• Unlike the Maltese and the Golden Retriever, wolves are wild animals that should not be kept as pets. They need a lot of land to live on, away from humans.
• Wolves have probably existed in their present form for over a million years, but some scientists believe wolves are descended from ancestors that lived over 50 million years ago!
• Wolves travel in packs, usually consisting of two parents and their pups, and sometimes additional unrelated wolves. They work together to catch their prey, which are primarily large, hoofed animals (e.g., deer, elk, or moose), but sometimes include smaller animals such as beavers, or even mice.
• Wolves are much larger than Maltese, and most are larger than Golden Retrievers.
• See pictures of wolves.

After the class has filled in the chart, go over the entries in the Wolf column and ask students if they have ever seen dogs exhibit any of the wolf behaviors they have learned about. For example, perhaps they have seen dogs "posturing" when they meet each other on a walk, much as wolves do in the wild. Place a star next to these wolf behaviors that dogs also exhibit.

Discuss the chart as a class. What are some of the similarities and differences between dogs and wolves?

Ask students if they have ever heard a story or fairy tale about a wolf. Perhaps they know the story of "Little Red Riding Hood" and the "Big Bad Wolf." Review the general plot of this story, or read it to the class.

Explain that years ago, when the story of Little Red Riding Hood was first told, people did not know nearly as much about wolves as we do today. They tended to be afraid of wolves and to therefore make the wolves in their stories be "big" and "bad." Point out that today, we know much more about wolves and realize that wolves are not nearly as scary as they appear to be in these stories.

Discuss as a class the ways that the Little Red Riding Hood story could be changed to be more realistic, as opposed to the "all the better to eat you with, my dear" wolf mentality.

[Note: For more detailed suggestions on how to teach your class about wolves, please see the K-4 Classroom Ideas at National Geographic's Geoguide to wolves.]

Assign half the class to the Maltese and half to the Golden Retriever.

Have students rewrite "Little Red Riding Hood" to incorporate behaviors that their breed might exhibit. For example, perhaps Little Red Riding Hood would stop to teach the Maltese a few tricks before continuing on to Grandma's house.

Students can create their stories either in writing or in pictures. Alternately, you can write these stories as a class.

Ask students to bring in pictures of their dogs or other dogs they know (or have them draw pictures of these dogs). Have them write sentences describing the dogs' appearance and behavior.

Display the pictures around the room so that the dogs are grouped by their appearance (e.g., small dogs, long-haired dogs, curly-haired dogs, dogs with long snouts). Have the class determine how the dogs should be grouped.

American Kennel Club
Dog Breed Information and Breeder Listing
International Wolf Center: Basic Information About Wolves
National Geographic: Coloring BookGray Wolves
National Geographic: GeoguideWolves
National Geographic: Our Bond With DogsA Love Story
National Geographic: Wolf to WoofThe Evolution of Dogs