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2.1 Animals and species

The big picture: Animals and

humans
What makes humans different from animals? In some ways, nothing! Humans are a
species of animal just like polar bears, blue whales or houseflies.

However, we humans often think of ourselves as ‘apart’, ‘different’ or even ‘above’ all
other species of animals. We give ourselves ‘human rights’. We farm and sometimes
hunt other animals. And, a human dying is considered far more serious than an animal
dying.

Why is this? Well, many argue that there is something about humans that sets us apart
from other animals. Humans are capable of using tools to change the world around
them. We engage in higher-level thinking and long-term planning. And, perhaps most
importantly, we experience complex emotions, such as empathy or disgust, that many
other animals do not experience.

But it is not as simple as that. Many animals are capable of emotions and thoughts on a
similar scale. Listen to the audio recording below to find out what other species of
animals are able to do.

The audio recording contains words that may be new to you. Complete this vocabulary
exercise to check that you know these words before you listen to the recording.

Vocabulary

Ko
 Match each statement to the correct photograph.

Empathy – being able to Self-awareness – being

share other’s emotions. aware of yourself.

Prey – animals that are

Social – enjoying
killed and eaten by
contact with others.
other species.
Species – a group of living
Hunting – finding and
organisms similar enough
killing animals for food.
to reproduce.

Ko
  Check

Rights of use

Figure 1. Orca whales hunting and trapping a seal.

Source: "Killer Whales Hunting a Seal

(https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Killer_Whales_Hunting_a_Seal.jpg)" original

file Callan Carpenter - Own work​​http://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?

curid=84531256 (http://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=84531256), is

licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-

sa/4.0/deed.en) via Wikimedia

0:00 / 2:02

 Audio(https://d3vrb2m3yrmyfi.cloudfront.net/media/edusys_2/content_uploads/Transcript
transcript 2.1.0-timestamps added.f526550f4e7528a537c2.pdf)

Activity
Discuss these questions with a partner. Give your opinions and reasons.

Does a whale or a chimpanzee deserve similar rights to humans?

Ko
 Do they deserve more rights than less sentient animals like insects?
Is it fair to spend time and money protecting animals when so many humans
still live in poverty?
Do we have a responsibility towards other creatures?

Learning intentions
In this subtopic, you will learn to communicate and discuss animals and species.

One of the biggest challenges with this topic will be unfamiliar vocabulary. You will
therefore learn a wide range of different words and phrases to confidently
communicate your ideas, facts and opinions on the topic. This will be the main focus
in the speaking and writing sections.

You will also practise understanding texts and identifying specific information,
particularly in texts that include challenging vocabulary. These strategies will
include skimming (reading a text quickly to get a general idea of its meaning),
scanning (locating specific information quickly) and predicting (thinking of the
answers to questions before encountering the text). This will be the focus in the
reading and listening sections.

Ko