A Menu That Changes: teacher key

Grizzly Bears, grade 7 edition, written for 7th grade. In Yellowstone a grizzly eats elk, trout, berries, moths and pine nuts. Follow its menu through the year.

Read the book. Print this page for the key.

Questions and answers

1. What is the most important food for Yellowstone grizzlies in September and October, when the seeds are plentiful?
   • Whitebark pine nuts (answer)
   • Strawberries
   • Cutthroat trout
2. What do elk and bison make up from March through May in Yellowstone?
   • A small treat
   • A large part of a grizzly's diet (answer)
   • None of its diet
3. How far can a brown bear follow the scent of a rotting carcass?
   • About two feet
   • Less than a mile
   • More than two miles (answer)
4. Yellowstone grizzlies eat elk, trout, berries, moths and pine nuts. What does this show?
   • Their menu changes through the year (answer)
   • They eat the same food all year
   • They eat only plants
5. Cutthroat trout come up streams to spawn. What does spawn mean?
   • Eat berries
   • Lay eggs (answer)
   • Climb a mountain
6. What can the fat a bear stores for winter do?
   • Give it energy and keep it warm (answer)
   • Help it climb
   • Make it run fast

Words

• spawn: lay eggs
• carcass: dead animal body
• alpine: high mountain
• hyperphagia: eating a lot
• territory: guarded land