Built to Hunt in the Dark: teacher key

Black Caimans, grade 7 edition, written for 7th grade. Look at how a black caiman is built, how it finds its way at night and how it raises young in the flooded Amazon.

Read the book. Print this page for the key.

Questions and answers

1. What helps a black caiman hunt at night?
   • Acute sight and hearing (answer)
   • Bright wings
   • A long tail of fur
2. How long is a newborn black caiman?
   • About 3 metres
   • About 30 centimetres (answer)
   • About 3 centimetres
3. What can warm a black caiman nest?
   • Sunlight or the heat of rotting plants (answer)
   • Cold rain
   • Snow
4. Where are most nests built?
   • On mountain tops
   • In flooded forest around lakes cut off from the river (answer)
   • In deserts
5. Why might many hatchlings in one area be a good thing?
   • There is safety in numbers (answer)
   • They can fly
   • They stop growing
6. What may a black caiman do in a drought?
   • Stay buried in mud until the rains return (answer)
   • Fly south
   • Dig a tunnel to the sea

Words

• predators: animal hunters
• capybara: big rodent
• clutch: group of eggs
• hectare: large land area
• hatchlings: newly hatched young