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Jane Goodall Facts & Worksheets

Jane Goodall is an English primatologist and anthropologist. She has devoted her entire life to studying primates, and her research has redefined the relationship between humans and animals.

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Jane Goodall is an English primatologist and anthropologist. She has devoted her entire life to studying primates, and her research has redefined the relationship between humans and animals. She’s also an active environmental speaker, and she still travels the world today to share about the importance of conservation as a way to save the planet.

See the fact file below for more information on the Jane Goodall or alternatively, you can download our 24-page Jane Goodall worksheet pack to utilise within the classroom or home environment.

Key Facts & Information

EARLY LIFE

  • Jane Goodall was born in London, England, on April 3, 1934. She was the eldest daughter of Mortimer Herbert Goodall, a businessman, and Margaret Myfanwe Joseph. She had one sister named Judy.
  • Since she was a child, Jane has loved observing animal behavior. In her free time, she liked to write notes and sketches about birds and animals she had seen. Her favorite books were about zoology and ethology.
  • Because of her immersive interest in animals, young Jane dreamed of travelling to Africa to observe the animals in their natural habitats.
  • Jane later attended Uplands private school, and she graduated in 1952. She landed her first job as a secretary at Oxford University, and she also worked part-time at a London-based documentary film company to finance her upcoming trip to Africa.

CAREER AND ACHIEVEMENT

  • In the late 1950s, Jane finally arrived in Kenya, Africa, at the invitation of a childhood friend. She met Louis Leakey, a famous anthropologist and museum curator. Louis hired Jane as a secretary.
  • Under Louis’ supervision, Jane was sent to Olduvai Gorge, a site rich in prehistoric remains, to study the vervet monkey. At that time, many studies towards chimpanzees had been unsuccessful since their behaviors are unnatural. This was either caused by the size of the safari, which frightened the chimps, or the little amount of time spent by observers to gain knowledge.
  • Louis believed Jane was capable of enduring the long-term isolation in the wild, Many experts had questioned Louis’ decision to place Jane in the field, considering she had no formal background or scientific education.
  • In July 1960, Jane, accompanied by her mother and African cook, arrived on the shore of Lake Tanganyika, with a goal of studying the chimpanzees.
  • At first, Jane had several failed attempts of approaching the chimpanzees. She could not get closer than 500 yards before the chimps fled. Jane later used another approach, one of observation, where she appeared at the same time every morning to bring bananas to feed the chimps.
  • Jane’s continuous effort eventually bore results. After a year of using the same observation method, Jane was able to move as close as 30 feet away from their feeding area. The chimps soon tolerated her presence and showed no fear of Jane.
  • Her systematic daily feeding method, known as the “Banana Club”, had made Jane closely acquainted with the majority of the chimps. She imitated their behaviors while spending time with them.

THE DISCOVERIES

  • The constant contact with the chimps made her discover a number of surprising behaviors. The chimps apparently have a complex social system, with ritualized behaviors, and communicate through a “language” system containing more than 20 individual sounds. Also, they’re not vegetarian as was previously thought to be true.
  • She also noted that chimps are capable of tool-making activities, searching for food, and using touch to comfort one another and develop long-term familial bonds. Such discoveries reaffirmed the close connection between chimps and human traits.

LEGACY

  • Because of her remarkable discoveries, Jane received a Ph.D. in ethology from Cambridge University in 1965. She later held a visiting professorship in psychiatry at Stanford University from 1970 to 1975. in 1973, she was appointed as a honorary visiting professor of zoology at the University of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania.
  • In recent times, Jane has used her previous studies to educate the public about wild chimpanzees’ endangered habitats, and she uses her voice to fight unethical treatment of chimpanzees that are used for scientific research.
  • Jane also encourages world leaders to develop nature-friendly tourism programs and actively works with businesses and local governments to promote ecological responsibility.
  • Jane has published several books from her fieldwork observations. In the Shadow of the Man was her first published work. Her life stories and legacy were captured in a documentary film, named ‘Jane’, which was played during the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival.

Jane Goodall Worksheets

This is a fantastic bundle which includes everything you need to know about the Jane Goodall across 24 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use Jane Goodall worksheets that are perfect for teaching students about Jane Goodall who is an English primatologist and anthropologist. She has devoted her entire life to studying primates, and her research has redefined the relationship between humans and animals. She’s also an active environmental speaker, and she still travels the world today to share about the importance of conservation as a way to save the planet.

Complete List Of Included Worksheets

  • Jane Goodall Facts
  • Goodall’s Biography
  • Know the Primates
  • First Look at Jane
  • True or False
  • Goodall’s Good Traits
  • Lesson about Chimps
  • Save the Planet
  • Let’s Color!
  • Animal Report
  • Intelligent Animals

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Use With Any Curriculum

These worksheets have been specifically designed for use with any international curriculum. You can use these worksheets as-is, or edit them using Google Slides to make them more specific to your own student ability levels and curriculum standards.

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