Inside the Winter Den: teacher key

Grizzly Bears, grade 9 edition, written for 9th grade. How do scientists learn what happens in a bear's den? Look at heart rates, body heat and the food that gets a bear ready.

Read the book. Print this page for the key.

Questions and answers

1. How many free-ranging brown bears did scientists follow over three winters?
   • 14 (answer)
   • 4
   • 140
2. About how warm is a Scandinavian brown bear during the den period?
   • About 3 degrees Celsius
   • About 33 to 34 degrees Celsius (answer)
   • About 63 degrees Celsius
3. What are middens?
   • Bear dens
   • Mountain moths
   • Caches that red squirrels have stored (answer)
4. How do grizzlies mostly get whitebark pine seeds?
   • By raiding caches red squirrels have stored (answer)
   • By picking them from the snow
   • By digging them from the den
5. Ants showed up in every scat study from 1943 to 2009. What does this suggest?
   • Ants are rare food
   • Ants are a steady part of a grizzly's diet (answer)
   • Ants are only eaten in winter
6. About how much of its yearly calories can moths supply in 30 days?
   • About a tenth
   • None
   • About half (answer)

Words

• hibernators: winter sleepers
• hyperphagia: eating a lot
• middens: stored seed piles
• scat: bear droppings