Not Just One Kind: teacher key

Electric Eels, grade 6 edition, written for 6th grade. Scientists now know of at least three species of electric eel, not one. Their bodies hold long strings of battery-like cells, and they cannot live without air.

Read the book. Print this page for the key.

Questions and answers

1. As of November 2026, how many species of electric eel do scientists know of?
   • One
   • At least three (answer)
   • Exactly two
2. An eel cannot live without air. What must it do?
   • Come up to the top to breathe (answer)
   • Stay at the bottom
   • Leave the river
3. Can an electric eel live without air?
   • No (answer)
   • Yes, easily
   • Only at night
4. What is an electric eel's electric organ made of?
   • Hundreds of thousands of flat cells (answer)
   • One big stone
   • Gills
5. What do electric eels use weak pulses for, besides finding their way?
   • To talk to each other (answer)
   • To dig
   • To nest
6. Why do electric eels breathe air?
   • The water can be low in oxygen (answer)
   • They have no gills
   • They like the cold

Words

• species: kind of animal
• gills: fish breathing parts
• electrocytes: power cells
• lowland: low ground
• prey: food animals