Lesson: Follow the Leader!

Watch a video about group decision-making in animals.

• Ask students to describe a time they worked in a group to make a decision. (choosing a game to play with friends, coming up with classroom expectations, etc.) What are the benefits of taking everyone’s opinion into account? (It’s “fair”; even if your choice doesn’t win, you were heard, so you might feel better about the outcome.) Ask students to brainstorm animals that live in groups. Do students think that these animals make decisions as a group? Discuss their ideas.

• Share the video “Wild Democracy.” Ask: How do olive baboons “vote”? (by following a leader) Why might it be important for a troop to have good leaders? (Leaders need to find a safe place with food and water for the group.)

Read an article about animal leaders and evaluate leadership qualities.

• Read the article “Follow the Leader!” aloud to students. Break students into small groups and assign each group one of these leadership qualities: experience, strength, teamwork, or sensitivity. Each group should use the article to determine how their assigned leadership quality helps members of the group survive. They should then predict how that trait could help a human community. Have groups present to the class.

Interpret information about the roles of lions in a pride.

• Share the “Life in the Pride” skills sheet or digital slideshow. Read the captions together and answer the first question as a class, then have students finish the activity. Discuss the answers as a class.

• Ask students about stories they have read or watched about lions, such as The Lion King. How accurately do they present lions’ social structure? (In the case of The Lion King, it is inaccurate because a pride isn’t actually ruled by a male. In reality, the females collaborate to hunt and protect territory. Also a male cub would not return to his childhood pride as an adult.)

Evaluate the importance of different leadership qualities.

• Invite students to participate in this issue’s online poll about leadership qualities (found at the bottom of the online scrollable article). Tally and submit their answers and then discuss which leadership quality they chose and why.

• Ask: Which leadership quality do you think is the most important? Have students complete the Learning Journey (previewed below) to promote the leadership quality they selected.

Demonstrate mastery with critical-thinking assessments.

• Have students complete the “No-Sweat Bubble Test.” Discuss answers as a class.

• Preview the “What’s the Connection?” activity as a class, then have students complete the sheet in small groups.

⇨ Learning Journey: Which leadership quality from the story do you think is the most important? Create a T-shirt design that advertises that leadership trait using animals or people.