You have been studying the relationship between jackals and tigers in India. Until recently, the only relationship you have observed is that jackals will associate themselves with a particular tiger and follow it at a safe distance in order to feed on the big cat's kills. However, recently you observed a jackal alerting a tiger to a kill with a loud cry. If you continue to observe this alerting behavior, you might change the categorization of the jackal/tiger relationship from ___________ to __________________.

Question

A.  mutualism; parasitism
B.  mutualism; commensalism
C.  commensalism; mutualism
D.  parasitism; mutualism
E.  competition; predation


Clarify question:
What is the key concept addressed by the question?

What type of thinking is required?
 
Gather Content:
What do you already know about symbiotic relationships how the different behaviors of the animals relate to each type of symbiosis? What other information is related to the question? 

Choose Answer:
Given what you now know, what information is most likely to produce the correct answer?

Reflection on Process:
Did your problem-solving process lead you to the correct answer? If not, where did the process break down or lead you astray? How can you revise your approach to produce a more desirable result?

Answer 1

C.  commensalism; mutualism


Clarify question:
What is the key concept addressed by the question?
The question requires a knowledge of different types of symbiotic relationships and in which type of relationship these animals are engaged. 

What type of thinking is required?
This is an application question. You will need to apply your knowledge of symbiotic relationships in order to determine the correct answer.
 
Gather Content:
What do you already know about symbiotic relationships how the different behaviors of the animals relate to each type of symbiosis? What other information is related to the question? 
Both partners benefit from a mutualism, whereas one partner benefits and the expense of the other in a parasitism. In a commensalistic relationships one partner benefits and the other is not affected.
 
Choose Answer:
Given what you now know, what information is most likely to produce the correct answer?
Initially, this was a commensal relationship. The jackal benefited from its relationship with the tiger, but the tiger was unaffected by the jackal. If the jackal assists the tiger in making a kill, both animals benefit. The relationship would then be classified as mutualism.
 
Reflection on Process:
Did your problem-solving process lead you to the correct answer? If not, where did the process break down or lead you astray? How can you revise your approach to produce a more desirable result?
You needed to apply your knowledge of symbiotic relationships to figure out which type of relationships existed between the jackal and the tiger. Were you able to correctly identify the previous relationship as commensalism because the tiger wasn't benefiting or hurt by the relationship with the jackal? Did you recognize that the jackal was in fact helping the tiger, which makes it a mutualistic relationship?