To accompany feature “Fighting ‘like an animal’ may not be what you expect” 

SCIENCE 

Before Reading: 

1.  What does fighting “like an animal” mean to you? What kind of animals do you think of? And what do their battles look like?

2.  If you were going to fight “like an animal,” which animal would you choose to be and why?

During Reading:

1.  Where does a male fig wasp spend its life?

2.  What happened in Christine Griffin’s lab when a graduate student offered a rare hermaphrodite to a male as a possible mate?

3.  Why do female Pegoscapus wasps fight each other?

4.  How do beadlet sea anemones battle? What is their prize for winning?

5.  How did the advent of boxing gloves change boxing matches?

6.  What is “mutual assessment”?

7.  What is “self-assessment,” and why does Mark Briffa call this “the dumb way of giving up”?

8.  How does the Caribbean rock mantis shrimp win a battle?

9.  What gross activity is included in a crawfish fight?

10.  How does a dung beetle usually protect its tunnel? And how can a smaller beetle avoid a battle with a bigger foe?

After Reading:

1.  If you were going to fight “like an animal,” which animal would you choose to be and why? Use evidence from the story to support your choice.

2.  Fighting another creature can be a costly battle. Why do animals then choose to fight? Is there a better option?