Cats Join the Village: teacher key

Cats, grade 5 edition, written for 5th grade. Why do cats purr, and how did cats come to live with people? Follow cats from grain stores to ships, ancient Egypt and homes today.

Read the book. Print this page for the key.

Questions and answers

1. Why did wildcats probably come to early farming villages?
   • Grain stores drew mice and other rodents (answer)
   • People gave them milk
   • They were lost
2. How did cats travel the world?
   • On trains
   • By swimming
   • On ships (answer)
3. What can the paintings from ancient Egypt tell us?
   • Cats were kept out of homes
   • Cats lived with people (answer)
   • Cats could not be pets
4. Which cats were uncommon until the Middle Ages?
   • Striped cats
   • Spotted cats (answer)
   • Black cats
5. What does honored mean here?
   • Treated with respect (answer)
   • Chased away
   • Fed

Words

• purr: soft cat hum
• rodents: mice and rats
• honored: treated with respect
• goddess: female god
• Bastet: Egyptian cat goddess