How Scientists Know Cougars: teacher key

Cougars, grade 10 edition, written for 10th grade. Scientists follow cougars with GPS collars, count Florida panthers, test other ways to sample cougars and study what cougars eat, plus their names, range, size, senses and kittens.

Read the book. Print this page for the key.

Questions and answers

1. How many Florida panthers did the February 2017 estimate give, counting adults and subadults?
   • 120 to 230 (answer)
   • 12 to 23
   • 12,000 to 23,000
2. What do the Florida panther counts leave out?
   • Counts happen only in cities
   • They do not include kittens that still depend on their mothers (answer)
   • Only males are counted
3. How many lions had Santa Monica Mountains biologists captured and GPS-collared in the first 15 years?
   • 2
   • 290
   • 29 (answer)
4. What data does California Fish and Wildlife use in its statewide project?
   • Genetic data from scat surveys and GPS collar data (answer)
   • Only photographs from tourists
   • Only hunting records
5. How much more deer per year did female pumas in developed habitats take than those in areas with little housing?
   • 36 percent fewer
   • 36 percent more (answer)
   • Exactly the same
6. What does disperse mean?
   • Hide
   • Sleep
   • Spread out (answer)

Words

• subadult: nearly grown
• accelerometer: movement recorder
• solitary: alone
• disperse: spread out