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Lesson Plan

Bison or Buffalo? Which is the Correct Name

Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve

Grade Level:

Upper Elementary: Third Grade through Fifth Grade

Subject:

Literacy and Language Arts

Lesson Duration:

60 Minutes

Common Core Standards:

4.L.1, 4.L.4, 5.L.1, 5.L.4

Essential Question

Bison or Buffalo? Which is the Correct Name?

Objective

Students learn how names evolved and understand why plants and animals have common and scientific names.

Background

What is this animal and what does it have to do with Kansas? In fact, the first bison in Kansas were not like the ones you might see in North America today. The ancestors of today’s modern bison migrated to North America hundreds of thousands of years ago across the Bering Land Bridge between Siberia and Alaska. They weighed almost 3,000 pounds and their horns spanned over 6 feet! They shared the continent with other giant - sized extinct mammals like mastodons, mammoths, American lions, and giant sloths. Eventually they died out and it was their smaller relatives who survived to become the largest land mammals on the continent.

Preparation

Download a photo of an American Bison and of a water buffalo. 

Download a drawing of the Disney character "Stitch".

Teacher should become familiar with information about how names were developed for the bison and how slang terms were developed. 

Materials

Lesson Hook/Preview

Ask students, "Do you have a nickname?" What is that nickname and how did you get it? 

Procedure

Follow along in the provided information as how it best fits the classroom.

Step 1: Show the pictures of the bison and the water buffalo. Ask students: 

What do we call these animals? A buffalo? A bison?
This large mammal has had many names over the years. Lakota Indians called it “tatanka.” French explorers called it “le boeuf” because of its resemblance to oxen. Later, early American settlers and explorers thought of the animal’s resemblance to the water buffalo and started to call it “buffle” and “buffelo.” Over time, “buffalo” became an accepted name as well as “bison.”

Step 2: Ask students, "Why the confusion? Why so many different names for one animal?"

Step 3: Explain to the students, "Most animals have a common name that comes from the local language. The animal you know as “dog” in English is called “perro” in Spanish and “chien” in French. There are as many common names for “dog” as there are languages in the world. Sometimes there can be many common names even within one language!

Step 4: Ask the students, "What do you call the large cat that used to live in the prairies of the United States? Do you call it a puma, a mountain lion, or a cougar?" 

Step 5: Explain to the students,

"This, as you can guess, becomes confusing when scientists from different countries want to speak to each other about the same animal. So, every animal gets a name when it is first discovered or described by science. This is called a scientific name and it usually comes from the Latin or Greek language and is printed in italics. The system of scientific naming we have today was invented by Carolus Linnaeus in the 17th century. The scientific name includes two parts. The genus – which comes first – is like your family name. The species – which comes second – is like your first name. For example, the scientific name for a dog is Canis domesticus" 

Step 6: Ask students, "Of the name Canis domesticus, which is the genus and which is the species?" Answer: Canis is the genus and domesticus is the species.
Use your name in this same example.
"Smith, Joe"
Smith is the genus and Joe is the species.

Many scientific names get their roots from the scientific names of related animals. The scientific name for buffalo, Bison bison, comes from a wild ox that lived in ancient Europe with the name Bos bison. The term “bison” itself actually comes from an eastern European root for “stinking animal” which refers to the odor of the wild ox during the rut. What about you? You probably have a first name and a last name. Do you have a middle name? What about a nickname? Where do your names come from? Although they can sound very complicated, scientific names are really just descriptions in another language or references to the person who did the naming.
Canis domesticus (dog) - house dog
Canis latrans (coyote) - barking dog

Step 7: Show the picture of Disney’s Stitch. Make a list of all of its physical characteristics.

Step 8: Make a list of its behavioral characteristics (if you are familiar with them). What animal do you think it might be related to? Come up with your own common and scientific name for the creature based on your observations.

Vocabulary

Tatanka - Lakota Indians term for bison.
Le Boeuf - French explorers term for bison.
Buffle or Buffelo - Early American explorers term for animal's resemblance to water buffalo.

Enrichment Activities

Activity 1:
Download a picture of Disney's "Stitch" or a similar cartoon character. Make a list of all of its physical characteristics. Make a list of its behavioral characteristics (if you are familiar with them). What animal do you think it might be related to? Come up with your own common and scientific name for the creature based on your observations. 

Activity 2: The system of scientific naming we have today was invented by Carolus Linnaeus in the 17th century. Learn more by going to this website. 

Carl Linnaeus (berkeley.edu)  https://ucmp.berkeley.edu/history/linnaeus.htm

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