Life on Rising Air: teacher key

Andean Condors, grade 5 edition, written for 5th grade. An Andean condor rides rising air over the mountains and eats animals that have died. Read how it flies, how it raises a chick and why people care about it.

Read the book. Print this page for the key.

Questions and answers

1. How much of its time in the air does a condor spend flapping?
   • About 1 percent (answer)
   • About half
   • Nearly all
2. What do condors that eat dead animals help reduce?
   • Rain
   • Diseases such as anthrax and botulism (answer)
   • Mountain snow
3. How many eggs does a female condor lay?
   • Six
   • Two
   • One (answer)
4. Why do condors grow up slowly?
   • A young condor needs six years or more to become an adult (answer)
   • They never leave the nest
   • They only eat once a year
5. What can you tell from a condor flying for 5 hours without flapping?
   • It cannot soar
   • It can use rising air to glide far (answer)
   • It flies only at night
6. What does glide mean in: it can glide a long way?
   • Fly smoothly (answer)
   • Build a nest
   • Eat quickly

Words

• soar: glide high
• wingspan: wing size
• anthrax: a disease
• botulism: a disease
• glide: soar smoothly