Animals Go to School

For many desert meerkats in Africa, a scorpion is a tasty meal that’s too important to pass up. That’s because food is scarce. But a meerkat pup is too inexperienced to know how to snag a scorpion safely. Taking one on is extremely dangerous for a tiny mammal that weighs less than a baseball. For a meerkat to catch a scorpion, scientists have observed that it needs lessons from a good teacher.

For decades, scientists have wondered whether any animal species truly teach other than humans. First they had to agree on what “teaching” means. The accepted definition has three parts (see "How Scientists Define Teaching"). Often, animals survive by acting on instinct or learning by observation. But in rare cases, an animal will teach others. Like you, some animals go to “school.”

Meerkats live in Africa’s deserts. There, food is scarce. So a scorpion is a tasty meal that’s too important to pass up.

But eating a scorpion is extremely dangerous, especially for a tiny pup. The young mammal weighs less than a baseball. For a meerkat to catch a scorpion, scientists have learned, it needs lessons from a good teacher.

We know humans teach. Yet for decades, scientists have wondered whether other animals do too. First they had to agree on what “teaching” means. The accepted definition has three parts (see "How Scientists Define Teaching").

Often, animals survive by acting on instinct. They also learn by observation. But in rare cases, an animal will teach others. Like you, some animals go to “school.”

Meerkats live in groups of up to 40. To teach youngsters to hunt, adults begin with an easy assignment. They bite the stinger off a scorpion and give the scorpion to the pups. The young meerkats get practice handling a live scorpion without the danger of being stung.

In these early practice sessions, the pups are not much bigger than the scorpion itself. At 3 months, meerkats weigh about 100 grams (0.2 pounds). They can fit in the palm of your hand.

As the pups’ skills improve, the lessons get harder. “Increasingly, the pups get their prey more intact,” says Alex Thornton, a zoologist at the University of Exeter in England. Thornton studied meerkats in Africa’s Kalahari Desert.

Meerkats live in groups of up to 40. Adults teach youngsters to hunt. They begin with an easy assignment. They bite the stinger off a scorpion. They give the scorpion to the pups. The young meerkats get practice handling a live scorpion. But there is no danger of being stung.

When they first practice, the pups are not much bigger than the scorpion itself. At 3 months, meerkats weigh about 100 grams (0.2 pounds). They can fit in the palm of your hand.

Then the pups’ skills improve. So the lessons get harder. “Increasingly, the pups get their prey more intact,” says Alex Thornton. He is a zoologist at the University of Exeter in England. Thornton studied meerkats in Africa’s Kalahari Desert.

So far, there have been only a few proven cases of animals teaching. Nigel Franks’s discovery of teaching ants was the first in 2006. Franks is a biologist at the University of Bristol in England. He showed that rock ants, a European species, teach by running in pairs.

In this situation, one ant knows where to go. The other doesn’t. That ant follows the leader, tapping the leader with its antennae as they travel. Sometimes the pair gets separated, so the leader waits patiently until the follower catches up. “The teacher ant is allowing the follower ant to learn at its own pace,” Franks says.

Franks suspects that the reason this species teaches is that its colonies are so small, with around 120 ants in a colony. (The colonies of other species can have millions of members.) “Small colonies can’t afford to lose any ants,” he says.

So far, there have been only a few proven cases of animals teaching. Nigel Franks’s discovery was the first. He found that ants teach in 2006. Franks is a biologist at the University of Bristol in England. He studied a European species of rock ant. The ants teach by running in pairs.

In this situation, one ant knows where to go. The other doesn’t. That ant follows the leader. It taps the leader with its antennae as the two travel. Sometimes the pair gets separated. So the leader waits patiently until the follower catches up. “The teacher ant is allowing the follower ant to learn at its own pace,” Franks says.

Franks thinks this species teaches because its colonies are small. There are around 120 ants in a colony. (Other ant species can have millions of members in a colony.) “Small colonies can’t afford to lose any ants,” he says.

There are two species of birds that are known to teach. Blue fairywrens, an Australian bird, begin talking to their young while they’re still in eggs!

Mothers teach unhatched chicks a specific call that they’ll use to beg for food. The call works like a password. After they hatch, chicks that correctly chirp the password get more food.

There are two species of birds that are known to teach. Blue fairywrens are one of them. The Australian birds begin instructing their young while they’re still in eggs!

Mothers teach unhatched chicks a specific call. The hatchlings will use it to beg for food. The call works like a password. After they hatch, chicks that correctly chirp the password get more food.

A.N. Radford

Pied babblers teach chicks that food is coming with a special call. Later, they use the call to lure chicks out of the nest.

African pied babblers also teach. Adult birds make a low purring sound when they deliver food to chicks. The young birds learn to expect food when they hear this noise.

As the chicks get older, adults purr to coax chicks out of the nest. Thinking there’s food, the chicks follow the adults even though there isn’t any.

The search for animal teachers isn’t over. Scientists are studying other species for evidence of this behavior. “There is something exquisite about finding an animal that teaches,” says Franks.

African pied babblers also teach. Adult birds make a low purring sound when they deliver food to chicks. The young birds learn to expect food when they hear this noise.

Then the chicks get older. The adults purr to coax the chicks out of the nest. The chicks think there’s food. So they follow the adults even though there isn’t any.

The search for animal teachers isn’t over. Scientists are studying other species for evidence of this behavior. “There is something exquisite about finding an animal that teaches,” says Franks.

The chart below describes the number of pied babbler birds in four different groups. Fill in the chart.

Which group has the most birds?

An adult meerkat caught 8 scorpions in 1 week, 2 scorpions the following week, and then repeated this pattern over the next 2 weeks. Which expression shows the number of scorpions the meerkat caught at the end of 4 weeks?

A. (8 + 2) × 2

B. (8 × 2) + 4

C. (8 + 2) − 4

D. 8 + 2 + 2

An adult meerkat caught 8 scorpions in 1 week, 2 scorpions the following week, and then repeated this pattern over the next 2 weeks. Which expression shows the number of scorpions the meerkat caught at the end of 4 weeks?

A. (8 + 2) × 2

B. (8 × 2) + 4

C. (8 + 2) − 4

D. 8 + 2 + 2

A meerkat pup that is 45 days old will spend 4 hours a day searching for food. A meerkat pup that is 90 days old will spend about 7 more hours than the younger pup searching for food each day. The tape diagram to the right shows how much time a 90-day-old meerkat spends searching for food over 3 days.

Write an expression using parentheses that represents the total time the 90-day-old pup spends searching for food.

Evaluate the expression.

Scientist Alex Thorton gave 3 meerkat pups food for 3 days. Two meerkats got 1 scorpion each day. A third meerkat got 1 hard-boiled egg each day. How many scorpions did he need to do the experiment twice? Write an expression with parentheses.

Evaluate the expression.

A student argues that you need 18 scorpions to conduct the experiment. On a separate sheet of paper, explain his error using words and an equation.

A student argues that you need 18 scorpions to conduct the experiment. On a separate sheet of paper, explain his error using words and an equation.
Evaluate the expression.

Let’s say you find a new ant species that has a colony 3 times the size of a typical rock ant’s, which has 120 ants. There are 2 colonies in an area. Draw a tape diagram to show how you would calculate the total number of newly found ants.