Songs Under the Ice: teacher key

Leopard Seals, grade 10 edition, written for 10th grade. In the breeding season, male leopard seals sing underwater for hours. Read how scientists studied the songs, then follow a leopard seal through its year.

Read the book. Print this page for the key.

Questions and answers

1. How many hours a day can males sing in the breeding season?
   • Up to 2
   • Up to 40
   • Up to 13 (answer)
2. How many sounds are in the alphabet of male leopard seal songs?
   • Two
   • Five (answer)
   • Fifty
3. What makes each male's song different?
   • The sounds themselves
   • The order and structure of the sounds (answer)
   • The color of the seal
4. All males use the same five sounds. How can their songs still differ?
   • By putting the sounds in a different order (answer)
   • By using a new language
   • By being silent
5. What does lyrical mean in: their calls tend to be soft and lyrical?
   • Like a song (answer)
   • Very loud
   • Hard to hear

Words

• vocal: making many sounds
• lyrical: like a song
• analysed: studied closely
• alphabet: set of letters