Pick your a favorite amphibian, fish, reptile, bird and mammal. Remember insects too! Look up ants and honey bees for a start. Need more suggestions? Look up lions - the native cougar (AKA: Mt. lion, puma, catamount) of North America as well as African lions. Check on bison and buffalo... dolphins and orcas. Find out how they organize themselves into families and societies. How many are matriarchal? How many patriarchal? How many are a combination or form other kinds of groups?

Questions to Ask Yourself

1. Do males and females stay in the same groups year-round or just seasonally?
2. Do the male and female raise their young together? Or, do females gather together to raise their young cooperatively?
3. Do the males live mostly solitarily or do they form seasonal groups of males?
4. Do both males and females provide food for the young and family?
5. Do both males and females watch over the safety of the young?
6. Do both males and females teach the young how to survive and pass on generational knowledge?
7. How does each kind of animal cooperate as a society? Why is cooperation important?
8. How does your family cooperate to take care of each other? How do other people of the world organize themselves to take care of each other?

Animal Groups, How Animals Live Together by Etta Kaner and Pat Stephens will be of interest to young readers. Look for it at your local library.