Measuring a Giant: teacher key

Black Caimans, grade 8 edition, written for 8th grade. How do scientists measure a black caiman? Read about measured lengths and bites, camera traps at nests and a long life in captivity.

Read the book. Print this page for the key.

Questions and answers

1. How many black caimans were measured in the bite data?
   • Three (answer)
   • Thirty
   • One hundred
2. What was the strongest bite measured for them?
   • 431 newtons
   • 4,310 newtons (answer)
   • 43,100 newtons
3. Across the 23 kinds of crocodilian measured, what did bite force strongly match?
   • Body size (answer)
   • Eye colour
   • Nest size
4. How often were pictures taken by the camera traps?
   • Five pictures at 10-second intervals (answer)
   • One a day
   • One a month
5. Egg loss was lower when an adult was near the nest. What does that suggest?
   • Adults eat eggs
   • A nearby adult may help protect the nest (answer)
   • Nests never need care

Words

• transducers: force sensors
• newton: unit of force
• pulse: yearly rise
• hectare: large land area