Imax
Jane Goodall's Wild Chimpanzees
In 1960, at the age of 26, Jane Goodall entered the wilderness of Tanzania's Gombe Stream National Park to begin her research on chimpanzees. The mission was more difficult than she could have imagined. The terrain was rough, the animals evaded her with frustrating ease, and what sparse knowledge existed of wild chimpanzees offered little insight.
Many researchers perceived chimpanzees as primitive, simple creatures, but Jane saw something else altogether. The animals she observed displayed high intelligence, emotional responses, and complex social behavior. In fact, Goodall found striking similarities between chimpanzee and human behavior. In everything from warfare to parenting, facial expressions to displays of affection, the two species appeared to be closely related.
Watching the Gombe chimp clan interact at close range in Jane Goodall's Wild Chimpanzees, it's hard to deny the connection. Poignant footage captures the great apes in their natural environment: playing games to pass the time, fighting with family members, vying for attention, and lounging in the grass on a hot summer day. Surprisingly humanlike, their mannerisms and interactions are so familiar as to be remarkable.
This film recounts the story of Goodall's inspirational journey, from those first months of doubt and struggle to the breakthroughs that placed her among the luminaries of modern science. Informed by an open mind and years of close study, Goodall's work redefined human understanding of chimpanzees and, ultimately, of mankind itself.
| Format | Omni Film |
| Grades | 3 – Adult |
| Author | Science Museum of Minnesota |
| Source/Publisher | Science Museum of Minnesota |
| Location | Mugar Omni Theater — Museum of Science, Boston |
| Website | Visit the film's official website |
| Media | OPEN VIDEO |
| Script | 1765_script-goodall.pdf |
| Educator Guide | 64_0_1161556025.zip |
| Reservation | Required at least two weeks in advance |
| Fee | $3 per person with Museum Exhibit Halls admission; $6 per person for Omni only |
Local Sponsor
Jane Goodall's Wild Chimpanzees
+ View Detailed Standard Connections
Primary Connections:
National Science Education Standards (1996)
(National)
- History and Nature of Science > Science as a human endeavor (Grade: 5 – 8)
- Life Science > Biological evolution (Grade: 9 – 12)
- Life Science > Biological evolution (Grade: 9 – 12)
- Life Science > Biological evolution (Grade: 9 – 12)
- Life Science > Biological evolution (Grade: 9 – 12)
- Life Science > Biological evolution (Grade: 9 – 12)
- Life Science > Behavior of organisms (Grade: 9 – 12)
- Life Science > Behavior of organisms (Grade: 9 – 12)
- Science in Personal and Social Perspectives > Natural and human-induced hazards (Grade: 9 – 12)
- Life Science > Reproduction and heredity (Grade: 5 – 8)
- Life Science > Regulation and behavior (Grade: 5 – 8)
- Life Science > Diversity and adaptations of organisms (Grade: 5 – 8)
- History and Nature of Science > Nature of science (Grade: 5 – 8)
- Life Science > Diversity and adaptations of organisms (Grade: 5 – 8)
- Science in Personal and Social Perspectives > Science and technology in local, national, and global challenges (Grade: 9 – 12)
MA Science and Technology/Engineering Framework (2006)
(Massachusetts)
- Life Science (Biology) > Adaptations of Living Things (Grade: 3 – 5)
- Life Science (Biology) > Characteristics of Plants and Animals (Grade: 3 – 5)
- Life Science (Biology) > Plant Structures and Functions (Grade: 3 – 5)
- Life Science (Biology) > Adaptations of Living Things (Grade: 3 – 5)
- Life Science (Biology) > Evolution and Biodiversity (Grade: 6 – 8)
- Life Science (Biology) > Changes in Ecosystems Over Time (Grade: 6 – 8)
– View Concise Standard Connections
Primary Connections:
National Science Education Standards (1996)
(National)
- History and Nature of Science > Science as a human endeavor (Grade: 5 – 8)
Science requires different abilities, depending on such factors as the field of study and type of inquiry. Science is very much a human endeavor, and the work of science relies on basic human qualities, such as reasoning, insight, energy, skill, and creativity--as well as on scientific habits of mind, such as intellectual honesty, tolerance of ambiguity, skepticism, and openness to new ideas. - Life Science > Biological evolution (Grade: 9 – 12)
Species evolve over time. Evolution is the consequence of the interactions of (1) the potential for a species to increase its numbers, (2) the genetic variability of offspring due to mutation and recombination of genes, (3) a finite supply of the resources required for life, and (4) the ensuing selection by the environment of those offspring better able to survive and leave offspring. - Life Science > Biological evolution (Grade: 9 – 12)
The great diversity of organisms is the result of more than 3.5 billion years of evolution that has filled every available niche with life forms. - Life Science > Biological evolution (Grade: 9 – 12)
Natural selection and its evolutionary consequences provide a scientific explanation for the fossil record of ancient life forms, as well as for the striking molecular similarities observed among the diverse species of living organisms. - Life Science > Biological evolution (Grade: 9 – 12)
The millions of different species of plants, animals, and microorganisms that live on earth today are related by descent from common ancestors. - Life Science > Biological evolution (Grade: 9 – 12)
Biological classifications are based on how organisms are related. Organisms are classified into a hierarchy of groups and subgroups based on similarities which reflect their evolutionary relationships. Species is the most fundamental unit of classification. - Life Science > Behavior of organisms (Grade: 9 – 12)
Like other aspects of an organism's biology, behaviors have evolved through natural selection. Behaviors often have an adaptive logic when viewed in terms of evolutionary principles. - Life Science > Behavior of organisms (Grade: 9 – 12)
Behavioral biology has implications for humans, as it provides links to psychology, sociology, and anthropology. - Science in Personal and Social Perspectives > Natural and human-induced hazards (Grade: 9 – 12)
Normal adjustments of earth may be hazardous for humans. Humans live at the interface between the atmosphere driven by solar energy and the upper mantle where convection creates changes in the earth's solid crust. As societies have grown, become stable, and come to value aspects of the environment, vulnerability to natural processes of change has increased. - Life Science > Reproduction and heredity (Grade: 5 – 8)
Every organism requires a set of instructions for specifying its traits. Heredity is the passage of these instructions from one generation to another. - Life Science > Regulation and behavior (Grade: 5 – 8)
All organisms must be able to obtain and use resources, grow, reproduce, and maintain stable internal conditions while living in a constantly changing external environment. - Life Science > Diversity and adaptations of organisms (Grade: 5 – 8)
Extinction of a species occurs when the environment changes and the adaptive characteristics of a species are insufficient to allow its survival. Fossils indicate that many organisms that lived long ago are extinct. Extinction of species is common; most of the species that have lived on the earth no longer exist. - History and Nature of Science > Nature of science (Grade: 5 – 8)
Scientists formulate and test their explanations of nature using observation, experiments, and theoretical and mathematical models. Although all scientific ideas are tentative and subject to change and improvement in principle, for most major ideas in science, there is much experimental and observational confirmation. Those ideas are not likely to change greatly in the future. Scientists do and have changed their ideas about nature when they encounter new experimental evidence that does not match their existing explanations. - Life Science > Diversity and adaptations of organisms (Grade: 5 – 8)
Biological evolution accounts for the diversity of species developed through gradual processes over many generations. Species acquire many of their unique characteristics through biological adaptation, which involves the selection of naturally occurring variations in populations. Biological adaptations include changes in structures, behaviors, or physiology that enhance survival and reproductive success in a particular environment. - Science in Personal and Social Perspectives > Science and technology in local, national, and global challenges (Grade: 9 – 12)
Humans have a major effect on other species. For example, the influence of humans on other organisms occurs through land use--which decreases space available to other species--and pollution--which changes the chemical composition of air, soil, and water.
MA Science and Technology/Engineering Framework (2006)
(Massachusetts)
- Life Science (Biology) > 08 Adaptations of Living Things (Grade: 3 – 5)
Describe how organisms meet some of their needs in an environment by using behaviors (patterns of activities) in response to information (stimuli) received from the environment. Recognize that some animal behaviors are instinctive (e.g., turtles burying their eggs), and others are learned (e.g., humans building fires for warmth, chimpanzees learning how to use tools). - Life Science (Biology) > 01 Characteristics of Plants and Animals (Grade: 3 – 5)
Classify plants and animals according to the physical characteristics that they share. - Life Science (Biology) > 03 Plant Structures and Functions (Grade: 3 – 5)
Recognize that plants and animals go through predictable life cycles that include birth, growth, development, reproduction, and death. - Life Science (Biology) > 10 Adaptations of Living Things (Grade: 3 – 5)
Give examples of how organisms can cause changes in their environment to ensure survival. Explain how some of these changes may affect the ecosystem. - Life Science (Biology) > 11 Evolution and Biodiversity (Grade: 6 – 8)
Recognize that evidence drawn from geology, fossils, and comparative anatomy provide the basis of the theory of evolution. - Life Science (Biology) > 18 Changes in Ecosystems Over Time (Grade: 6 – 8)
Recognize that biological evolution accounts for the diversity of species developed through gradual processes over many generations.
Jane Goodall's Wild Chimpanzees
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Jane Goodall's Wild Chimpanzees
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Jane Goodall's Wild Chimpanzees
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