The Sneeze Vote: teacher key

African Wild Dogs, grade 10 edition, written for 10th grade. Wild dogs gather for a greeting rally before a pack sets off, and the sneezes in it seem to work like votes. Collar data and a genome study show how wild dogs run, travel and have been counted.

Read the book. Print this page for the key.

Questions and answers

1. What did scientists once think about wild dogs sneezing?
   • That they were clearing their airways (answer)
   • That it was a hunting call
   • That it meant they were cold
2. In the sneeze study, what happened as the number of sneezes in a rally grew?
   • The pack was less likely to leave
   • The pack was more likely to leave (answer)
   • The pack started howling
3. How many chases per dog per day did the Okavango collars record on average?
   • 243
   • 0.24
   • 2.43 (answer)
4. How many readings a second of motion did the collars record?
   • 300 (answer)
   • 5
   • 1,119
5. With the dominant pair, only a few sneezes were needed. What does that suggest?
   • Dominant dogs' sneezes count for more in the vote (answer)
   • Every dog's vote counts the same
   • Sneezing is only a cold
6. What does cursorial mean in: cursorial adaptations?
   • Built for running (answer)
   • Built for digging
   • Built for swimming

Words

• rally: greeting ceremony
• cursorial: built for running
• genome: all its genes
• dispersing: leaving home
• canids: dog family