Gut Check: Mandrills Sniff Poop to Avoid Peers with Parasites

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. The text describes a mechanism of behavioral avoidance to help maintain health between mandrills. Mandrills use their olfactory senses in order to determine which of their peers to avoid due to parasitic infections.
Resource ID#: 168010 Type: Text Resource
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Direct Link: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/gut-check-mandrills-use-smell-poop-avoid-peers-parasites-180962893/

General Information

Subject(s): English Language Arts, Science
Grade Level(s): 9, 10
Intended Audience: Educators educators
Resource supports reading in content area:Yes
Keywords: ecology, natural selection, survival, behavioral immunity, adaptation, evolution, mandrills, informational text, text complexity, primates, parasites, gut
Instructional Component Type(s): Text Resource
Resource Collection: STEM Reading Resources

Aligned Standards

This vetted resource aligns to concepts or skills in these benchmarks.

1 Lesson Plan

What's that Smell? Avoiding Peers with Parasites

In this lesson, students will analyze two informational texts intended to support reading in the content area. The primary article discusses social behavior in mandrills that helps them know when to avoid certain individuals in their community in order to prevent becoming infected with parasites. A second related text discusses adaptations in Atlantic killifish that allow them to survive in water polluted by high levels of toxins. By reading and synthesizing both texts, students will learn about adaptations that enable survival of species. This lesson plan includes a note-taking guide, text-dependent questions, a writing prompt, answer keys, and a writing rubric.

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Lesson Plan

What's that Smell? Avoiding Peers with Parasites:

In this lesson, students will analyze two informational texts intended to support reading in the content area. The primary article discusses social behavior in mandrills that helps them know when to avoid certain individuals in their community in order to prevent becoming infected with parasites. A second related text discusses adaptations in Atlantic killifish that allow them to survive in water polluted by high levels of toxins. By reading and synthesizing both texts, students will learn about adaptations that enable survival of species. This lesson plan includes a note-taking guide, text-dependent questions, a writing prompt, answer keys, and a writing rubric.

Type: Lesson Plan