Writing Assignment
Summary of Research
As I was initially doing some broad research on animals’ intelligence, I learned that animals and humans have similar ways of solving complex problems (Inside the minds of animals). For instance, elephants mourn the deaths of other elephants and chimpanzees engage in deception schemes (Inside the animal mind). The aspect of the waggle dance that bees do caught my attention, so I decided to research bees’ intelligence in further depth. I learned that the waggle dance is a sophisticated type of communication that uses the sun’s perpendicular path to the horizon to communicate direction to other bees (exploring the animal mind). They take the sun’s path and wag their rear end at a specific angle to the sun’s path and this gives signals of direction (exploring the animal mind). Additionally, it has been shown that bees can pass on knowledge to other bees. For example, if one bee discovers a more efficient way to retrieve nectar, all the bees seem to adapt to that same strategy (exploring the animal mind). Bees’ brains contain 1 million neurons to our 80 million neurons in our brains; However, they seem to integrate spatial information similar to how our midbrain processes information (exploring the animal mind).
Thesis Statement
Like other animals, bees have similar ways of solving complex problems when compared to humans. They have 1 million neurons in their brain compared to humans’ 80 million neurons; however, they seem to integrate spatial information like how our midbrain processes information as well as communicate knowledge to other bees. What’s most fascinating though is their complex communication style called the waggle dance that uses the sun’s perpendicular path to the horizon to communicate distance and direction to other bees.