Jane Goodall

Objectives:

• Students will be able to describe the life and work of Jane Goodall.

• Students will be able to state an opinion about the value of studying animals in the wild.

Suggested Grades:

4th Grade - 5th Grade - 6th Grade

Lesson Procedure:

Print the reading comprehension passage and questions (see below).

Students should read the passage silently, then answer the questions. Teachers may also use the text as part of a classroom lesson plan.

Lesson Excerpt:

Jane Goodall is a zoologist, a person who studies and works with animals. She is famous for her work with and observation of chimpanzees in the wild. Jane was born in London, England in 1934. By the time she was ten years old, Jane knew that she wanted to work with animals in Africa.

In 1957, when Jane was 23 years old, she went to Kenya and became the assistant of an anthropologist named Louis Leakey. Leakey was searching for fossils in Tanzania. Jane told Leakey about her interest in animals, and he encouraged her to set up a camp in Africa where she could observe chimpanzees. In 1960, Jane did just that. She set up a research camp at Gombe Stream Game Reserve in Tanzania. The site is now a national park.

Continued...