{"id":526,"date":"2010-07-03T10:06:10","date_gmt":"2010-07-03T14:06:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/humanspark\/?p=526"},"modified":"2011-04-08T10:07:51","modified_gmt":"2011-04-08T14:07:51","slug":"social-skills-lesson-overview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/humanspark\/for-educators\/social-skills-lesson-overview\/526\/","title":{"rendered":"Lesson Overview"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>For a printable version of this lesson, click here: (<a href=\"wnet\/humanspark\/files\/2010\/07\/Social-Skills_WP.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">PDF<\/a>) (<a href=\"wnet\/humanspark\/files\/2010\/07\/Social-Skills_WP.rtf\" target=\"_blank\">RTF<\/a>)<\/p>\n<p><strong>Grade Levels<\/strong>: 9-12<\/p>\n<p><strong>Time Allotment: <\/strong>Two to three 45-minute class periods<\/p>\n<p><strong>Overview:<\/strong> In this lesson, students will use selected segments from the PBS series <strong><em>The Human Spark <\/em><\/strong> to investigate the differences and similarities between the respective social dynamics of humans and our closest primate relatives and what they may tell us about what\u2014if anything\u2014may make us uniquely human.<\/p>\n<p>In the Introductory Activity, students are asked to brainstorm what the basic building blocks of human society are, and asked to consider whether any of these are indeed unique to humans, or if they may also be found in the animal world. In the Learning Activity, they will watch a series of excerpted clips from <em><strong>The Human Spark<\/strong><\/em> comparing and contrasting the social and individual behavioral tendencies of humans and primates along three main themes: altruism\/helping\/cooperation, laws\/rules\/power\/politics, and learning\/teaching. In the Culminating Activity, students will divide into groups to compare the observations they have made throughout the lesson on their student organizers and make brief presentations to the rest of the class.<\/p>\n<p>This lesson is best used as an introduction to (or supplement to) a unit on anthropology or sociology.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Subject Matter:<\/strong> Anthropology, Sociology, Psychology, Evolutionary Biology<\/p>\n<p><strong>Learning Objectives: <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Students will be able to:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Outline the essential elements      of human society<\/li>\n<li>Describe the basic      dynamics of chimpanzee society<\/li>\n<li>Define a relationship in      anthropological terms<\/li>\n<li>Provide experimental      examples of an innate human tendency to cooperate<\/li>\n<li>Compare and contrast the      learning and teaching behavior of humans and primates<\/li>\n<li>Explain why the extent of      our ability to cooperate may constitute a \u201chuman spark\u201d distinguishing us      from animals<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Learning Standards<br \/>\n<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>(From the National Curriculum Standards for Social Studies available at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.socialstudies.org\/standards\/strands\">www.socialstudies.org\/standards\/strands<\/a>)<\/p>\n<p>Chapter 2\u2014The Themes of Social Studies<\/p>\n<p>1. CULTURE<\/p>\n<p><em>Social studies programs should include experiences that provide for the study of culture and cultural diversity.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>Human beings create, learn, share, and adapt to culture. <\/strong>The study of culture examines the socially transmitted beliefs, values, institutions, behaviors, traditions and way of life of a group of people; it also encompasses other cultural attributes and products, such as language, literature, music, arts and artifacts, and foods. Students come to understand that human cultures exhibit both similarities and differences, and they learn to see themselves both as individuals and as members of a particular culture that shares similarities with other cultural groups, but is also distinctive. In a multicultural, democratic society and globally connected world, students need to understand the multiple perspectives that derive from different cultural vantage points.<\/p>\n<p>4. INDIVIDUAL DEVELOPMENT AND IDENTITY<\/p>\n<p><em>Social studies programs should include experiences that provide for the study of individual development and identity.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>Personal identity is shaped by an individual\u2019s culture, by groups, by institutional influences, and by lived experiences shared with people inside and outside the individual\u2019s own culture throughout her or his development.<\/strong> Given the nature of individual development in a social and cultural context, students need to be aware of the processes of learning, growth, and interaction at every level of their own school experiences. The examination of various forms of human behavior enhances an understanding of the relationships between social norms and emerging personal identities, the social processes that influence identity formation, and the ethical principles underlying individual action.<\/p>\n<p>5. INDIVIDUALS, GROUPS, AND INSTITUTIONS<\/p>\n<p><em>Social studies programs should include experiences that provide for the study of interactions among individuals, groups, and institutions.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>Institutions are the formal and informal political, economic, and social organizations that help us carry out, organize, and manage our daily affairs.<\/strong> Schools, religious institutions, families, government agencies, and the courts all play an integral role in our lives. They are organizational embodiments of the core social values of those who comprise them, and play a variety of important roles in socializing individuals and meeting their needs, as well as in the promotion of societal continuity, the mediation of conflict, and the consideration of public issues.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Media Components:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Video:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong> <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Selected segments of <em><strong>The Human Spark<\/strong><\/em>: <em><strong>So Human, So Chimp<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"wnet\/humanspark\/files\/2011\/04\/Chimp-Politics.mov\" target=\"_blank\">Chimp Politics<\/a><\/p>\n<p><em>Host Alan Alda and scientist Franz de Waal observe and compare two alpha-male chimpanzees\u2019 different approaches to sharing at the <\/em><em>Yerkes<\/em><em> <\/em><em>National Primate<\/em><em> <\/em><em>Research<\/em><em> <\/em><em>Center<\/em><em> in <\/em><em>Atlanta<\/em><em>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> <\/em><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/humanspark\/video\/program-three-brain-matters-video-excerpt-social-networks-and-the-spark\/421\/\" target=\"_blank\">Social Networks and the Spark<\/a><\/p>\n<p><em>Oxford University\u2019s Alan Dunbar compares human social networks\u00a0 to those of chimps; \u00a0at Yale University, host Alan Alda observes how babies as young as three months old favor cooperative puppets over those that won\u2019t play.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> <\/em><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"wnet\/humanspark\/files\/2011\/04\/How-We-Learn.mov\" target=\"_blank\">How We Learn<\/a><\/p>\n<p><em>Host Alan Alda observes experiments at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology which demonstrate how differently human children and orangutans learn how to complete tasks.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong> <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"wnet\/humanspark\/files\/2011\/04\/Monkey-See-Monkey-Do.mov\" target=\"_blank\">Monkey See, Monkey Do<\/a><\/p>\n<p><em>At the Yerkes National Primate Research Center in <\/em><em>Atlanta<\/em><em>. Vicki Horner explains the ways chimps \u201cpassively tolerate\u201d learning as opposed the \u201cactive\u201d engagement of human teaching.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"wnet\/humanspark\/files\/2011\/04\/Cooperation-Over-Competition.mov\" target=\"_blank\">Cooperation Over Competition<\/a><\/p>\n<p><em>Scientists discuss what may be the uniquely \u201chuman spark\u201d which separates us from animals: our ability to communicate, cooperate, and collaborate with others.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>Materials:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>For the teacher: <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>1 projected computer with internet access<\/p>\n<p>Social Skills Student Organizer Answer Key (<a href=\"wnet\/humanspark\/files\/2010\/07\/Social-Skills-SOAK_WP.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">PDF<\/a>) (<a href=\"wnet\/humanspark\/files\/2010\/07\/Social-Skills-SOAK_WP.rtf\" target=\"_blank\">RTF<\/a>)<\/p>\n<p><strong>For each of three groups of students:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>1 computer with internet access<\/p>\n<p><strong> <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>For each student:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Social Skills\u00a0 Student Organizer (<a href=\"wnet\/humanspark\/files\/2010\/07\/Social-Skills-SO_WP.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">PDF<\/a>) (<a href=\"wnet\/humanspark\/files\/2010\/07\/Social-Skills-SO_WP.rtf\" target=\"_blank\">RTF<\/a>)<\/p>\n<p><strong> <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Prep for Teachers:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Prior to teaching this lesson, you will need to:<\/p>\n<p>Preview all of the video segments used in the lesson.<\/p>\n<p>Download the video segments used in the lesson to your classroom computer, or prepare to watch them using your classroom\u2019s internet connection.<\/p>\n<p>Print\/copy the Social Skills Student Organizer for each student.<\/p>\n<p>Proceed to<a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/humanspark\/?p=528\" target=\"_blank\"> Lesson Activities<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For a printable version of this lesson, click here: (PDF) (RTF) Grade Levels: 9-12 Time Allotment: Two to three 45-minute class periods Overview: In this lesson, students will use selected segments from the PBS series The Human Spark to investigate the differences and similarities between the respective social dynamics of humans and our closest primate [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[8068,508,9689,5025,2743,476,9690,691,984,9827,717,2356,9688],"class_list":["post-526","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-for-educators","tag-anthropology","tag-chimpanzees","tag-collaboration","tag-community","tag-cooperation","tag-evolution","tag-human-spark","tag-orangutans","tag-politics","tag-primates","tag-psychology","tag-society","tag-sociology"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.1.1 - 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