Cameras at the Cliff: teacher key

Gyrfalcons, grade 9 edition, written for 9th grade. How scientists watch gyrfalcon nests in Alaska and what the cameras, helicopters and counts have shown.

Read the book. Print this page for the key.

Questions and answers

1. How do researchers on the Seward Peninsula see the prey brought to nests?
   • By digging
   • With motion-activated cameras (answer)
   • By asking hunters
2. How do Alaska biologists check whether raptors use nest cliffs?
   • They fly slowly past by helicopter without landing (answer)
   • They climb every cliff
   • They count eggs by hand
3. What did scientists discover as recently as 2011?
   • Some gyrfalcons spend much of the winter out on the ocean (answer)
   • Gyrfalcons cannot fly
   • Gyrfalcons live in caves
4. How much does a gyrfalcon chick weigh when it hatches?
   • About 2 kilograms
   • About 5 grams
   • Around 52 grams (answer)
5. What do the cameras suggest about a gyrfalcon's diet?
   • It never changes
   • It is only fish
   • It can change when ptarmigan numbers drop (answer)
6. What does cached mean?
   • Hunted
   • Stored away (answer)
   • Painted

Words

• ptarmigan: a bird
• raptors: birds of prey
• morphs: color forms
• cached: stored away