test prep blog nonfiction

I read the article "Smarter than you think" from the scholastic news magazine. This article is about the studies in showing that animals are very intelligent creatures just like humans. Even though humans are the smartest creatures a few animals come close. For example chimpanzees and their use of tools to help them in everyday tasks  and dolphins with their unique communication system are signs of very intelligent behaviors. Other smart animals include octopuses and elephants. octopuses are considered smart for their ways to get whats they want using different tactics. Elephants are smart for their seeming ways to feel emotions and that they can recognize them selves in a mirror.

The main idea that the author is trying to convey is that animals are smarter than most people think. You wouldn't expect an octopus to be considered as intelligent right? The article states that "They're generally considered the smartest invertebrates,". This shows that things might not always be what you expect. People expect monkeys to be intelligent because they are most like humans. They don't stop to think maybe other animals completely different from humans, can be smart too. Another unexpectedly smart animal is the elephant. "These behaviors are telltale signs of high intelligence." stated the article. the elephants way of feeling emotions and the fact they notice themselves in a mirror shows they have skills most other animals don't. most other animals would think their reflection in a mirror was another animal of their species.

I think this is a very interesting article because i can relate to it. This makes me wonder what other animals are smarter than we think or may know. I think if we tested more animals then we can uncover new talents they might have. It also makes me wonder why we expect animals to be less smart than us like why do we assume that all animals are less intelligent. If we tried i bet we can train animals to do amazing things. Even things we humans might not be capable of. Maybe one day we may find some crazy amazing talent that some exotic animals can do and we can't.