Sharp Senses and High Branches: teacher key

Leopards, grade 9 edition, written for 9th grade. How a leopard sees, hears and climbs, and why it takes its food up a tree. Read about what it eats, how males and females differ, where leopards live, how that range has shrunk and how cubs begin.

Read the book. Print this page for the key.

Questions and answers

1. What lines a leopard's eye behind the retina?
   • A layer of fur
   • Tiny whiskers
   • Reflective cells called the tapetum lucidum (answer)
2. What do leopards prefer in savannahs?
   • Larger prey of 20 to 80 kg (answer)
   • Tiny insects
   • Fruit
3. As of November 2026, how much of their historical habitat in Africa has leopards been erased from, according to Panthera?
   • At least two-thirds (answer)
   • About one-tenth
   • None of it
4. Male leopards are 30 to 100 percent heavier than females. What does that tell you?
   • Males and females are the same size
   • Females are heavier
   • Males are usually the larger ones (answer)
5. What are savannahs?
   • Grassy plains (answer)
   • A kind of tooth
   • A spot pattern

Words

• tapetum: eye mirror layer
• retina: eye's back layer
• savannahs: grassy plains
• canine: long pointed tooth
• hoofed: having hard feet