Interactive Case Study for Studying Elephant Communication

This video case study explores whether elephants can detect, interpret, and respond to signals delivered by underground vibrations.

Biologist Caitlin O’Connell had noticed that elephants would often freeze in their tracks and place their trunks on the ground, as though they were sensing some kind of signal underground. Working in Etosha National Park, Namibia, she designed an experiment to determine whether elephants would be able to detect and respond to an alarm call delivered as underground vibrations. 
 
This video incorporates embedded questions at automatic pause points, where students are asked to make predictions, construct explanations, and analyze data. After answering all the questions, students can view their answers in a “Report” that can be printed. They can also add further explanation to each answer in the Report if their thinking has changed. The video can also be shown without embedded questions using "Presentation Mode."

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