The Cost of Getting Airborne: teacher key

Andean Condors, grade 12 edition, written for 12th grade and up. A study of Andean condors suggests that the effort of flight is set by takeoff, not by the hours of soaring. Size, population counts, lead and Argentina’s conservation program round out the picture of a giant bird.

Read the book. Print this page for the key.

Questions and answers

1. What was the most important factor in flight effort in the Bariloche study?
   • Wind
   • Altitude (answer)
   • Nest size
2. What range of wind speeds did the study record?
   • 4 to 47 kilometers per hour (answer)
   • 40 to 470 kilometers per hour
   • 0 to 4 kilometers per hour
3. What does the National Geographic report say about the program in Argentina?
   • It has hatched and released 80 condor chicks (answer)
   • It has closed
   • It has no chicks
4. What do the authors conclude about the largest soaring birds?
   • Soaring costs the most
   • Their flight effort seems set by the cost of taking off (answer)
   • They fly only in winter
5. Wind explained little of the variance in flight effort. What does that mean?
   • Wind did not account for much of the differences in effort (answer)
   • Wind caused most of the effort
   • There was no wind
6. What does reintroduction mean in: the 1989 Colombian reintroduction?
   • Returning a species to its native home (answer)
   • Counting birds
   • Naming a bird

Words

• takeoffs: leaving the ground
• thermals: rising warm air
• variance: how much varies
• reintroduction: return to wild
• Argentavis: extinct Argentine bird