Hi. It's Paul Andersen. And this is disciplinary core idea LS2D. It's
on social interactions and group behavior. One of my favorite organisms is the meerkat.
And it's probably because they are very cute but they also show social interactions very
similar to humans. They're incredibly intelligent. And they work together as a family group.
But you don't have to be a meerkat to work socially. We're finding that real simple organisms,
even as simple as a slime mold, they show social behavior. And ants, like these leaf
cutter ants show social behavior. And we do as well. And so why is that? What's the evolutionary
purpose of working together? Well, it's pretty simple. If organisms work together, and they
do better then they're going to pass that behavior on to their offspring. Likewise,
if it doesn't help out there's no point in forming that social behavior. And so a lot
of the times we find in social groups that they share genes. They're sharing genetics.
And so they're helping each other by helping themselves. Sometimes they're just living
in proximity with other organisms. And sometimes there's some kind of a recognition mechanism.
In other words they can recognize kin. Or they can recognize organisms that they would
be better off if they formed a group with. Sometimes it's species. Sometimes non-species
specific. But again they're doing better by living in a group. Now these groups show different
levels of stability. And so chimpanzees will have a highly stable group. They're a community
of chimpanzees will stay the same year after year after year. And then some groups, like
these spinner dolphins here will show a lot of stability between the mother and the offspring.
But then they're going to form these real fluid dynamic groups that will change over
time. And that helps them in their ecosystem. In other words where they're living. Now the
research we're doing is showing that there's a really strong genetic component to this.
So much that if we take organisms that live socially, and that's all the way from a starling
to a fruit fly to a mouse to a pig, and then just, we keep them in social isolation. We
give them enough food and water. And the temperature is correct, what we find is that they start
picking-up diseases. They get sick. They don't do as well. And so there's something innate
in social organisms where they do better if they're living around other organisms or with
other organisms. And humans are just like that. And so how do you teach this? Well in
the lower elementary grades you want to start talking about groups. And so an example could
be these ants right here. Why are they forming groups? Well it allows them to find more food.
Or it allows them better defense. It also allows them flexibility. In other words they
can respond to change in a more effect way by living in a group. You also have to emphasize
that these groups will change as far as size from very small groups. Just a few individuals
to groups that contain thousands of different organisms. And then the function is going
to change as well. So sometimes it's for feeding. And sometimes it's just simply for protection.
As you move into the upper elementary grades you want to talk about the hierarchy within
the group. And sometimes it's going to be equal status. So all of these worker ants
are going to have the same exact status. But sometimes there will be a clear hierarchy.
And so in wolves for example there will be an alpha male and an alpha female. And they'll
be the only ones that can mate. And the other ones are kind of subservient to them. In some
groups, remember, they're going to be incredibly stable over years. And sometimes it's going
to be fluid. But each of those is a adapted to its environment. As you get into middle
school you want to talk about the why. So this has been evolutionarily selected for.
Sometimes it's because the organisms share genetics or proximity. They live around each
other. Sometimes they can just recognize ones where that group would work out. But they're
doing better in a group than they would individually. And that's why we see that. In these groups
lots of times it's important that they establish bonds within the group and they keep that
group together. And so communication is incredibly important. In wolves a lot of that is going
to be through their urine. They're communicating just chemically. But lots of times it will
be like howling to keep the group together. So communication is important. In humans we
do that through speech. But in wolves that and in many groups that social group is going
to be flexible. They'll be one alpha male and then maybe when they die it's going to
change the whole hierarchy of the group. They're going to break into different packs. And in
different groups. And so it depends on the organism. But they're getting protection or
some advantage by living in that group. And then finally as you get to high school you
want to talk about this social drive. A lot of that is just driven just like parent to
child. Or sibling to sibling, like these orangoutangs here. But there's something innate inside
those organisms where they want to be social. And if we make them live by themselves or
in isolation, like fruit flies, starlings or humans for sure, they simply are not going
to do well. And so social grouping is incredibly important. It's really innate in us. And it's
a big part of the way we live. And I hope that was helpful.