The Jeff Corwin Experience: Elephants
Teacher’s Guide
Grade Level: K–8
Curriculum Focus: Life Science
Lesson Duration: Two class periods
Program Description
What distinguishes African elephants from their Asian relatives? Travel from Tanzania and Botswana
to Borneo and Thailand to discover the shared and distinguishing physical and behavioral
characteristics of these large mammals.
Video Index
Segment 1: Elephants of Botswana (8min.)
Description
Meet the elephants of Botswana, and learn why many are orphans. Watch scientists track a
mother and her calf.
Pre-viewing question
What do you know about elephants?
Answer: Answers may include that elephants are big, have trunks, and live in Africa and Asia.
Post-viewing question
Why do scientists put radio collars on animals?
Answer: Scientists who want to learn about animal behavior in a natural habitat can track them
with radio collars.
Segment 2: Elephants of the World (9 min.)
Description
Travel to Thailand and Nepal and learn about the Asian elephant. Watch as one enjoys its bath.
Pre-viewing question
What role do you think the matriarch and the midwife play in the elephant herd?
Answer: Answers may include that the matriarch is the leader of the herd and that the midwife
helps with births.
Post-viewing question
What are two differences between the African elephant and the Asian elephant?
Answer: The African elephant has smooth skin and two digits in its trunk; the Asian elephant is
hairier and has one digit.
The Jeff Corwin Experience: Elephants
Teacher’s Guide
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Segment 3: Back in Botswana (11 min.)
Description
Track an elephant herd with scientists, and observe them adjust one elephant’s radio collar.
Learn why some people have difficulties with elephants.
Pre-viewing question
Why might farmers have a problem with elephants?
Answer: Answers may include that elephants can trample their crops and hurt people.
Post-viewing question
Why did the baby elephant stay so close to its mother while the scientists were adjusting her
study collar?
Answer: The baby elephant was making sure its mother would continue to care for it because
baby elephants rely on their mothers to survive.
Lesson Plan
Student Objectives
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Learn the characteristics of the African and Asian elephants.
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Create a chart highlighting similarities and differences of African and Asian elephants.
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Discuss problems facing both elephant species.
Materials
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The Jeff Corwin Experience: Elephants video
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Computer(s) with Internet access
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Poster board and markers
Procedures
1. Begin the lesson by having students view The Jeff Corwin Experience: Elephants. Each of the three
segments provides information about the characteristics of African and Asian elephants and the
problems facing both species.
2. After watching the program, tell students that they will work in pairs to create a chart
highlighting the similarities and differences of African and Asian elephants. The charts should
focus on the following characteristics:
Published by Discovery Education. © 2005. All rights reserved.
The Jeff Corwin Experience: Elephants
Teacher’s Guide
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weight
shoulder height
skin
size of the ears
shape of the head
tusks
digits on the end of the trunk
diet
social organization
3. In addition to the information in the program, students can go to the following Web sites for
facts about African and Asian elephants.
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http://www.upali.ch/differences_en.html
http://ask.yahoo.com/20000426.html
http://www.elephant.tnet.co.th/index_29.1.html
http://www.elephants.com/species.htm
4. Give students time in class to work on their charts. Suggest that they include illustrations or
photographs of each elephant species to help make the differences and similarities more
apparent.
5. During the next class period, ask volunteers to present their charts. In what ways are these
elephants similar and different?
6. Conclude the lesson by discussing problems facing both elephant species. What are the conflicts
between humans and elephants? Why is it difficult to for humans to address these problems?
Assessment
Use the following three-point rubric to evaluate students’ work during this lesson.
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3 points: Students were highly engaged in class discussions; researched the topic carefully
and thoroughly; and created an accurate and attractive chart highlighting the similarities
and differences of African and Asian elephants.
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2 points: Students participated in class discussions; researched the topic adequately; and
created a satisfactory chart highlighting the similarities and differences of African and Asian
elephants.
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1 point: Students participated minimally in class discussions; did not complete the research;
and did not complete the chart highlighting the similarities and differences of African and
Asian elephants.
Published by Discovery Education. © 2005. All rights reserved.
The Jeff Corwin Experience: Elephants
Teacher’s Guide
Vocabulary
African elephant
Definition: An elephant species in sub-Saharan Africa; considered the world’s largest land
animal
Context: The African elephants of Botswana are vulnerable to ivory poachers.
Asian elephant
Definition: An elephant species in India and Southeast Asia
Context: The Asian elephant is smaller than its African relative.
herbivore
Definition: An animal that feeds chiefly on plants
Context: African and Asian elephants are herbivores because they eat different kinds of plants.
trunk
Definition: A part of the elephant’s anatomy that is a combined nose and upper lip. Elephants
breathe and smell with their trunks and use them to pick up objects.
Context: Elephants breathe and smell with their trunks and use them to pick up objects.
tusk
Definition: The long, curved upper teeth of an elephant
Context: Made of ivory, tusks have long been sought by poachers who kill elephants
Academic Standards
National Academy of Sciences
The National Academy of Sciences provides guidelines for teaching science in grades K–12 to
promote scientific literacy. To view the standards, visit this Web site:
http://books.nap.edu/html/nses/html/overview.html#content.
This lesson plan addresses the following science standards:
Grades K-4
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Life Science: Organisms and environments
Grades 5-8
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Life Science: Populations and ecosystems; Diversity and adaptations of organisms
Published by Discovery Education. © 2005. All rights reserved.
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The Jeff Corwin Experience: Elephants
Teacher’s Guide
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Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning (McREL)
McREL’s Content Knowledge: A Compendium of Standards and Benchmarks for K-12 Education
addresses 14 content areas. To view the standards and benchmarks, visit
http://www.mcrel.org/compendium/browse.asp.
This lesson plan addresses the following national standards:
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Life Science: Understands the relationships among organisms in their physical environment
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Life Science: Understands biological evolution and the diversity of life
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Language Arts—Viewing: Uses viewing skills and strategies to understand and interpret visual
media; Writing: Gathers and uses information for research purposes
Support Materials
Develop custom worksheets, educational puzzles, online quizzes, and more with the free teaching tools
offered on the Discoveryschool.com Web site. Create and print support materials, or save them to a
Custom Classroom account for future use. To learn more, visit
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http://school.discovery.com/teachingtools/teachingtools.html
Published by Discovery Education. © 2005. All rights reserved.