Stories Versus Evidence: teacher key

Honey Badgers, grade 9 edition, written for 9th grade. Many tales surround the honey badger, from a guiding bird to bee-calming scent. Field studies in the Kalahari show what has been tested and what is still argued.

Read the book. Print this page for the key.

Questions and answers

1. How many honey-hunters did the 2023 review interview?
   • 11
   • 394 (answer)
   • 59
2. What do the pairs people see really show?
   • Two males hunting
   • A mother foraging with her offspring (answer)
   • Two mothers sharing a den
3. How did the 2003 study find the nine honey badgers' food intake?
   • It changed each day
   • It dropped in summer
   • It stayed steady (answer)
4. Why can scientists not say how many honey badgers there are?
   • They are hard to count (answer)
   • They live only in zoos
   • They are all the same
5. What does systematically mean in the text?
   • In an orderly way (answer)
   • By chance
   • Very quickly

Words

• carrion: dead animals
• systematically: step by step
• subspecies: local type
• foraging: food-hunting
• honeyguide: a guiding bird