Cook County's Coyote Count: teacher key

Coyotes, grade 8 edition, written for 8th grade. Coyotes live in Cook County, Illinois, and scientists follow them with collars. The study counts how many live alone and how many survive a year, and shows what they eat and how they raise pups.

Read the book. Print this page for the key.

Questions and answers

1. What did researcher Paul Morey examine to learn what coyotes eat?
   • Old maps
   • 1,429 scats (answer)
   • Fruit trees
2. In the Chicago area, what chance do coyotes generally have of surviving one year?
   • 60 percent (answer)
   • 6 percent
   • 100 percent
3. What share of the coyotes studied each year in Cook County were solitary?
   • All of them
   • None of them
   • Between one-third and one-half (answer)
4. How can a coyote find small animals under snow?
   • By smell alone
   • By sight from far away
   • By hearing them move (answer)
5. What does solitary mean?
   • Living alone (answer)
   • Very loud
   • Very large

Words

• adaptable: able to change
• carrion: dead animals
• scats: animal droppings
• solitary: living alone
• weaned: off mother's milk