Reading a Condor's Feathers: teacher key

Andean Condors, grade 11 edition, written for 11th grade. Feathers, tags and watching points tell scientists about condors. Read how takeoff flapping was estimated to use 21 percent of the daily flight energy, what feathers reveal about food and lead, and how Colombia counted its condors.

Read the book. Print this page for the key.

Questions and answers

1. How much of the daily flight energy was flapping estimated to use?
   • 1 percent
   • 21 percent (answer)
   • 50 percent
2. How many observers counted condors in Colombia?
   • 84
   • 63
   • 207 (answer)
3. What did scientists compare to find out about lead?
   • Wild condors and captive-bred birds that had not met lead (answer)
   • Condors and eagles
   • Nests and eggs
4. Flapping was 1 percent of flight time but 21 percent of the energy. What explains this?
   • Takeoff flapping costs a lot compared with soaring (answer)
   • Condors flap all day
   • Soaring costs a lot of energy
5. Why compare museum feathers with feathers from living condors?
   • Isotopes let scientists compare the food old and modern condors ate (answer)
   • Museum feathers are bigger
   • Living condors have no feathers
6. What does observers mean in: 207 observers at 84 watching points?
   • People who watch (answer)
   • Kinds of birds
   • Mountain peaks

Words

• takeoffs: leaving the ground
• ammunition: bullets and shot
• observers: people watching
• estimated: worked out
• reintroduction: return to wild