The nature of science encompasses the entire world and within that realm, patterns of life can be observed, interpreted, and organized into a sensible arrangement of understanding. By discovering, through an intricate process, how shapes and images form into a complete design or sequence, students related similar scientific patterns to their own development and life cycle through a constructivist framework. They further predicted that all things were different but unified to form a whole. The focus of the study was to integrate into the curriculum a teaching unit of primates based on research conducted by an elementary school teacher. Fifth grade students, working together in collaborative learning groups in hands-on, minds-on activities, delineated symmetrical patterns in travel routes, eating habits, vocalizations, diet preferences, and social behavior of squirrel monkeys. Observations were evaluated in a combined effort to gain knowledge about primates and explore their role in the nature of science. (Contains 19 references.) (Author/YDS)