Crocodilians Close Up: teacher key

American Alligators, grade 5 edition, written for 5th grade. Alligators belong to a group called crocodilians. Read about their snouts, bodies, sensory spots, nests and years of life.

Read the book. Print this page for the key.

Questions and answers

1. What decides whether a baby alligator is a male or a female?
   • The temperature of the nest (answer)
   • The size of the mother
   • The color of the eggs
2. What are alligators, crocodiles, caimans and gharials called together?
   • A den
   • A nest
   • A group called crocodilians (answer)
3. In winter, where does an alligator rest?
   • In a nest of plants
   • In a den (answer)
   • In salty water
4. What does an alligator's tail make up?
   • About half of its length (answer)
   • All of its length
   • A tenth of its length
5. What does breed mean here?
   • To dig a den
   • To swim in salt water
   • To have young (answer)
6. An alligator can stay in salty water only for a short time. Which place suits it better?
   • The open ocean
   • A slow river (answer)
   • The dry hills

Words

• crocodilians: alligators and kin
• scutes: bony plates
• hatchlings: newly hatched young
• breed: have young