Question 3: Describe Achieved

Practises Social behaviour & spatial behaviour

Grey wolves (Canis lupus) live in packs of about 2 to 20 closely related animals that form a hierarchy, in which agonistic behaviour (dominance displays, submissive displays and threats) matters. The paper’s figure ranks the pack. The alpha male and female lead decisions, including cooperative hunts and defence of the territory; they are monogamous and the only pair to breed. Betas, of either sex, are second in command and help keep order on hunts and in other pack activities. Deltas follow the alphas and betas, help hunt, look after pups and help defend the territory. Omegas rank lowest: they receive the most aggression, eat last and eat least.

Define hierarchy and territory, and describe how the pack’s hierarchy is kept, how pack members show kin selection, and an advantage and a disadvantage of living in the pack below the alpha pair.

The 2025 paper, page 10 ↗ Marking schedule, page 6 ↗

Work it out

Try it on paper first. Stuck? Take one hint at a time.

1 What is a hierarchy?
A ranking of the animals in a social group from top to bottom, in which each animal dominates those below it and gives way to those above, so higher ranks get first access to food and mates.
2 What is a territory?
An area that an animal or a group actively defends against others.
3 What is kin selection?
Behaviour that helps relatives survive and reproduce, even at a cost to the helper. It only counts as kin selection if the animals helped are genetically related to the helper.
4 Where does the pack show kin selection?
Wolves below the alpha pair hunt for the pack, look after the alphas’ pups, and risk injury defending the territory. The pups are their close relatives.
5 What is one good thing and one bad thing about living in the pack?
Good: safety in numbers, and a share of large prey caught together. Bad: lower-ranked wolves eat last and least, and only the alpha pair breeds.

Answer A hierarchy is a ranking within a social group, in which each animal dominates those below it and gives way to those above, so higher ranks get first access to food and mates. A territory is an area an animal or group actively defends. Kin selection is behaviour that helps genetically related animals survive and reproduce, even at a cost to the helper. In the pack, wolves below the alpha pair hunt, care for the alphas’ pups and defend the territory, and the pups are their close relatives. Living in the pack gives a wolf safety in numbers and a share of large prey; but a lower-ranked wolf eats last and least, and does not breed.

What the marker wanted

Achieved Describes, one point each: hierarchy; territory; kin selection, which only counts if it says the animals helped are related; one case of it in the pack; an advantage of pack life; a disadvantage of pack life. Four make A4.

The schedule marks the question as one answer from N0 to E8. Achieved points count first: one or two give N1 or N2, three A3, four A4. Above that, two Merit points give M5 and three M6, then one Excellence point E7 and two E8.

In our words, from NZQA’s 2025 marking schedule.

Common mistake

Defining kin selection as helping others in the group. The schedule gives the point only if the answer says the animals helped are relatives, and NZQA’s 2025 report says many candidates were unclear on the part played by genetically related young.

How did it go?

Got it moves it further out. Review brings it back tomorrow.