Stacks of Tiny Batteries: teacher key

Electric Eels, grade 5 edition, written for 5th grade. An electric eel is a fish that makes electricity with cells that work like a stack of batteries. It breathes air and hunts at night in South American rivers.

Read the book. Print this page for the key.

Questions and answers

1. What do the electrocytes in an electric eel work like?
   • A stack of batteries (answer)
   • A pile of sand
   • A pair of wings
2. How many electric organs does an electric eel have?
   • One
   • Three (answer)
   • Ten
3. What kind of charge does an eel make most of the time?
   • A strong one
   • A weak one (answer)
   • None at all
4. Why does an electric eel come up to the top of the water?
   • To breathe air (answer)
   • To dig a nest
   • To sleep
5. Eels live in water low in oxygen. What helps them live there?
   • Breathing air (answer)
   • Eating sand
   • Growing fur

Words

• electrocytes: power cells
• organs: body parts
• volts: electric units
• prey: food animals
• crustaceans: crab-like animals