AV Reviews g Rachel Hays Department Editor Richard Leakey: The Man Who Saved The film reverts to the 1984 discov- Responses from my students to the Animals. 1995. Films for the Hu- ery of the "Turkana boy." Leakey bioethical issues can almost al- manities & Sciences (P.O. Box 2053, views this 1,600,000-year-old skeleton ways be characterized as shal- Princeton, NJ 08543-2053). VHS. 50 of a 16-year-old powerfully muscled low and narrowly focused. This well- min. $89.95. boy with a brain two-thirds the size of crafted package of instructional video, our own as a vital piece of the puzzle of laserdisc, teacher re- As Kenya's Director of Wildlife resource video human evolution. He relates the evolu- (9 Service, Richard Leakey battled source manual, and student reference on tion of the upright ape to climatic to save an endangered elephant book with copying permission pro- change resulting in the closed forest population. In his role as paleontolo- vides guidance that should facilitate an open forest and gist, Leakey unearthed fossils that being replaced by student production of amplified and of fossils in the showed the Lake Turkana area of savanna. Preservation more inclusive responses. The video is Kenya to be "the cradle of human- field is illustrated with the skeleton of a a short training tape showing the other Downloaded from http://online.ucpress.edu/abt/article-pdf/58/8/504/47785/4450221.pdf by guest on 28 September 2021 kind." four-million-year-old elephant. materials being used in a classroom Leakey's story begins with his five- A switch in time to the 1993 political setting. Although the demonstration year effort to stop the decimation of storm surrounding Leakey's approach class has only a third to half as many Kenya's elephant population. In his to the problem of elephant poaching is students as most high school classes, first act as director in 1989, Leakey confusing. An interview with his the model is adaptable and nicely dramatically delivered a message of brother, Phillip, suggests reasons for shown. I suspect that many video la- warning to poachers and drew the Leakey's loss of support. The new ad- serdiscs and CD-ROMs would benefit world's attention by burying all of ministrator of parks explains the cur- from the inclusion of a training tape. I Kenya's confiscated ivory. The three- rent policy of dealing with the elephant applaud Videodiscovery for this en- and-a-half-day fire marked the begin- problem is contrary to Leakey's ap- hancement. ning of Leakey's war against corrup- proach. Twelve ethical dilemmas are pre- tion in the Wildlife Services. By firing A final interview with Leakey sug- sented by individuals on the videodisc. half of the Service's workforce, arming gests we are entering a major period of Ten to 12 other individuals play roles his workers with guns the equivalent extinction and decrease in biodiversity. (physicians, lawyers, politicians, coun- of the AK47's used by poachers, and Biodiversity is decreasing at a rate sim- selors, police officers, environmental raising ?2.5 million, Leakey reduced ilar to that discovered for five previous activists, and so on) and briefly explain the number of elephants killed from mass extinctions. Leakey tells us that their positions on the issue. Ethnic and 4,000 to 30-40 per year. Under political there is no second chance in evolution, gender diversities are well represented pressure and accusations of arrogance and human existence is simply an ac- in these roles. Collections of 26 to 38 and racism, he resigned his post in cident of fate. single paragraph readings and graph- January 1994. Eighth grade students who viewed ics, including charts, tables and photos, Returning to his work as a paleontol- this video centered their attention on are available as resource materials. Ci- ogist, Leakey lost both legs in the un- Leakey's views on extinction, his mes- tations for the readings and graphics explained crash of his small plane. Al- sage that the key to our future is in the are included in the Teacher's Manual. though sabotage was suggested by past, and that life is precious. They Text for all resources, including the many, he viewed the crash as an acci- found a segment on the elephants' be- individual viewpoints, is included in dent. With an enduring belief that the havior of burying their dead intrigu- both teacher's and student's manuals. key to our future lies in our past, ing. Although students seemed to gain Written resources come from maga- Leakey continues his search for evi- little from the discussion of evolution zines, newspapers, pamphlets, scien- dence of the first upright apes. and the political overtones influencing tific abstracts, and specialized text- Leakey's resignation as Wildlife Ser- books. These selected readings are not vices Director, they offered definite read on the videodisc, but appear only Rachel Hays is the editor of the Audio opinions on Leakey's approach to sav- as text. The type style, color and size Visual Reviews section of ABT. She ing the elephants. This film offers many are appropriate for reading even from holds a Ph.D. in botany from the Uni- points for debate by high school stu- the back of a classroom, but I wish the versity of California, Davis, and has dents. Teacher support materials were option of hearing the readings were taught courses at the college level. not available. With a B.S. from San Diego State Uni- available so that visually disabled stu- versity, Hays went on to the University Patricia Kenzig dents could access this material easily. of California, Davis, for her M.S. de- St. John Bosco School It is closed captioned for the hearing gree. For several years, Hays has Parina Heights, OH 44130 impaired. done research for the Natural Re- In addition to the features already sources Ecology Laboratory at Fort mentioned, the Teacher's Manual in- Collins, CO, studying nutrient cycling cludes general instructions for use of and soil She has published organisms. Videodiscov- the video laserdisc, a cross reference to articles in several popular and scien- Bioethics Forums. 1995. tific periodicals. Her address is: 6921 ery, Inc. (1700 Westlake Ave. N., Suite curriculum topics for each issue, sum- Buckhorn Ct., Loveland, CO 80537. 600, Seattle, WA 98109-3012). Video maries against which student develop- laserdisc and resource books. $379. ments can be checked, teaching tips for 504 THEAMERICAN BIOLOGY TEACHER, VOLUME 58, NO. 8, NOVEMBER/DECEMBER1996 .