Back From the Brink: teacher key

The Fastest Animals, grade 11 edition, written for 11th grade. The fastest animal nearly vanished. Its recovery shows how fast numbers can fall and rise.

Read the book. Print this page for the key.

Questions and answers

1. What did DDT do to peregrine falcon eggs?
   • It made them bigger
   • It made the shells thin so they broke (answer)
   • It turned them blue
2. What was the first step in the peregrine's recovery?
   • A new nest law
   • A big migration
   • The ban on DDT in the United States (answer)
3. What does the peregrine's recovery show?
   • A species can come back after a cause of harm is removed (answer)
   • Falcons stop diving
   • Cheetahs are safe
4. When did earlier studies think cheetahs hunt?
   • Only at night
   • Only at noon
   • Mainly at dawn and dusk (answer)
5. What does the word agility mean here?
   • Heavy weight
   • Nimble movement (answer)
   • Loud noise

Words

• pesticide: bug poison
• endangered: nearly gone
• quadrupled: grew fourfold
• agility: nimble movement