Science // Animals of the World

Animal Communication

Understand that animals communicate in many different ways — birds sing to attract mates and defend territory, whales call across vast ocean distances, bees dance to show other bees where food is, wolves howl to keep the pack together, and fireflies flash light signals — and that communication is essential for survival

Ages
7 to 9
Type
Concept
Builds on
2 topics
Leads to
1 topic

Quick check

If the learner hears birds singing in the morning, can they explain that birdsong is a way of communicating — and describe at least two other ways different animals send messages to each other?

Ask this to see whether the topic is secure.

Topic // Mastery

What mastery looks like

What a learner can do once this topic is secure.
  • Describes at least 4 different methods of animal communication (sound, dance, light, scent, body language)
  • Gives a specific animal example for each method
  • Explains that animals communicate to find mates, warn of danger, or share food locations

Topic // Map

Where this fits

What to learn first and what this topic opens up, with the reason for each link. Required links come first.
  • RequiredMust come first
  • HelpfulHelps, but not essential

Before this

2 topics
  • Animals EverywhereRequired

    Animals of the World // Ages 5 to 7

    Communication needs awareness of animal diversity

  • The World of MinibeastsHelpful

    Animals of the World // Ages 7 to 9

    Bee dance is a key communication example; insect knowledge enriches it

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Animal Communication

Ages 7 to 9 // Concept

Leads to

1 topic
  • Animal IntelligenceRequired

    Animals of the World // Ages 9 to 11

    Animal intelligence builds on understanding of communication as complex behaviour

Topic // Research-informed

Teaching notes

From the Marble Skill Taxonomy. These notes have not been validated in classrooms, so treat them as a starting point for your own judgement.

The approach

For ages 7–9, teach animal communication as a goal-directed system (sender → signal → receiver → response) across at least four channels — sound, movement/dance, light, scent/chemical, and body language — each paired with a clear purpose: attracting mates, warning of danger, locating food, or defending territory. The central idea is that a signal only matters when another animal receives it and changes what it does, and that animals carry real information through many senses, not human-style words.

Common misconceptions

  • 'Animals only communicate with sounds' — many use scent, light, movement/dance, and body posture.
  • 'Animals talk in words / have language like ours' — they exchange specific signals, not human-style sentences.
  • 'Communication is always to be friendly' — many signals warn, threaten, or claim territory.
  • 'A signal works on its own' — it only matters if another animal receives and responds to it.
  • 'Bright colours/lights and dances are just for show' — they carry real messages (mate quality, food direction, warning).

Useful representations

  • A signal-type gallery: one icon/example per channel (sound, dance, light, scent, body language).
  • A signal→purpose matching board pairing each message with its goal.
  • A honeybee waggle-dance diagram showing how angle/duration encode direction and distance to food.
  • A sender→signal→receiver→response loop diagram.

Teaching practices

  • Cover the full sensory range deliberately — not just sound — so pupils learn animals also 'talk' with scent, light, and movement, breaking the sound-only assumption.
  • Pair every signal with its PURPOSE (mate, danger, food, territory) so communication is understood as goal-directed messaging, not random noise.
  • Make the sender-and-receiver idea concrete: a signal with no one to receive it does nothing — use the honeybee waggle dance where hive-mates read and act on the message.
  • Guard against over-humanising: animals communicate real information (danger, direction, readiness to mate) but not human-style conversations or words.

Activities to try

  1. 1

    Send the signal: operate a communication loop

    Why it works: A signal is not just a sound or a show — it is information that only works when a receiver reads it and changes its behaviour, and the channel must suit the environment and what the receiver can sense.

    1. Take the role of the sender: pick an animal, choose a channel (sound, dance, light, scent, or body language), and choose a message (danger, mate, food, or territory).
    2. Transmit the signal and watch whether the receiver reads it and acts — flee an alarm call, approach a display, follow a scent trail.
    3. Enter a honeybee waggle-dance mode: set the dance's angle (direction) and duration (distance), then watch hive-mates fly off to the correct flower — or the wrong one when the dance is off.
    4. Try sending a channel that does not suit the setting (a light flash in bright daylight that is washed out, or a visual body-posture display in dark, murky deep water where the receiver cannot see it) and observe the receiver fail to get the message.
  2. 2

    Signal-channel gallery

    Why it works: Animals 'talk' through scent, light, movement, and body posture as well as sound — communication spans many senses.

    1. Explore a scene of animals and reveal each one's channel: hear a sound clip (whale song, birdsong, wolf howl, alarm call), watch a movement/dance (honeybee waggle, peacock display), see a light glow (firefly flash, deep-sea bioluminescence), see a scent puff (ant trail, dog scent-marking, moth pheromone), or read a body-language posture (dog posture, cat tail, gorilla chest-beat).
    2. For each animal revealed, read its purpose card: mate, danger, food, or territory.
    3. Collect at least one example from each of the five channels so the survey covers the full sensory range, not just sound.
  3. 3

    Hands-on ant-trail investigation

    Why it works: If the ants lose their way where the trail was wiped, that suggests they were following a scent message left on the path, not simply 'knowing' the way. Wiping removes the scent, so the message is gone. (Some ants also use sight or landmarks, so the effect can vary.)

    1. If a live ant trail to a food source is available, first predict what will happen if part of the path is wiped away.
    2. Wipe a section of the trail with a wet cloth and watch what the ants do.
    3. Describe what the wiping tells you about how the ants were finding their way.

Science // Animals of the World

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