The Octopus Mind, Still Unsolved: teacher key

Giant Pacific Octopuses, grade 12 edition, written for 12th grade and up. What is the evidence for octopus intelligence, and where does it run out? A full look at studies of the giant Pacific octopus and its relatives, from recognition tests to genomes, with what scientists still cannot say.

Read the book. Print this page for the key.

Questions and answers

1. What does the octopus vertical lobe do?
   • It pumps blood to the gills
   • It plays an essential role in learning and memory (answer)
   • It makes ink
2. In the 2010 study, how were the two people different to the octopuses?
   • One fed them and the other touched them with a bristly stick (answer)
   • One was larger than the other
   • One wore a mask
3. Why is it hard to compare cephalopod and vertebrate brains?
   • They evolved independently for more than 500 million years (answer)
   • They are the same animal
   • Cephalopods have no neurons
4. Researchers say they lack enough data about skin patterns. What does that suggest?
   • The topic is fully solved
   • Some of how skin change works is still not understood (answer)
   • Octopuses cannot change skin
5. How many octopuses did the 2000 Puget Sound survey report?
   • Only 18 (answer)
   • About 18,000
   • None
6. What does sentient mean in this text?
   • Very large
   • Regarded as able to feel (answer)
   • Living in deep water

Words

• invertebrate: animal without backbone
• potentiation: connection strengthening
• sentient: able to feel
• genome: full gene set
• plankton: drifting life