Built for the Sky: teacher key

Bald Eagles, grade 7 edition, written for 7th grade. A close look at a bald eagle's body, eyes and grip, its winter roosts, and its nests, eggs and young.

Read the book. Print this page for the key.

Questions and answers

1. What weighs about twice as much as an eagle's skeleton?
   • Its feathers (answer)
   • Its talons
   • Its nest
2. How does an eagle look around, since its eyes cannot move from side to side?
   • It closes its eyes
   • It turns its whole head (answer)
   • It flies in circles
3. What do biologists use the hind talon for?
   • To find fish
   • To build nests
   • To tell the sexes apart (answer)
4. Why might a nest in a very tall tree be hard to reach on foot?
   • It is under water
   • It can be 180 feet or more above the ground (answer)
   • It is on a power line
5. What does skeleton mean?
   • All the bones (answer)
   • All the feathers
   • A kind of nest
6. At about what age do bald eagles usually first breed?
   • 1 year
   • 30 years
   • 5 to 6 years (answer)

Words

• talons: sharp claws
• roost: a resting place
• skeleton: all the bones
• perch: a high seat
• biologists: nature scientists