Listed, Then Removed: teacher key

American Alligators, grade 6 edition, written for 6th grade. Alligators were hurt by market hunting and loss of habitat. Read how the species was listed, then removed from the endangered list in 1987.

Read the book. Print this page for the key.

Questions and answers

1. In what year was the alligator listed as an endangered species?
   • 1987
   • 1967 (answer)
   • 2026
2. Who removed the alligator from the endangered species list in 1987?
   • The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (answer)
   • The Chinese alligator
   • The Florida zoo
3. What does the International Union for Conservation of Nature rate the alligator as?
   • A group of caimans
   • A kind of crocodile
   • A species of least concern (answer)
4. What is the main threat to alligators today?
   • Salty water
   • Loss of wetland habitat (answer)
   • Cold winters
5. What does habitat mean here?
   • A natural home (answer)
   • A hungry animal
   • A kind of egg
6. The sensory spots on an alligator's jaws are more sensitive than what?
   • A crocodile's teeth
   • A mother's nest
   • A person's fingertips (answer)

Words

• crocodilians: alligators and kin
• scutes: bony plates
• hatchlings: newly hatched young
• endangered: close to vanishing
• habitat: natural home