Inside the Orca Family: teacher key

Orcas, grade 6 edition, written for 6th grade. Orcas are dolphins that live in families led by mothers, hunt in teams and find food by sound. Learn how they live and how many there are.

Read the book. Print this page for the key.

Questions and answers

1. What is a matriline?
   • A kind of fish
   • A mother orca with her sons, daughters and her daughters' calves (answer)
   • A seasonal route
2. How do orcas that hunt herring in Norway stun the fish?
   • By slapping their tails (answer)
   • By making waves
   • By clicking loudly
3. Where does the biggest group of orcas in the Southern Ocean live?
   • Around Antarctica (answer)
   • Near Norway
   • In warm tropical seas
4. Older female orcas teach younger whales where to fish. What does that suggest about pods?
   • Young orcas learn from older family members (answer)
   • Pods never change
   • Orcas fish alone
5. What does echolocation mean in this book?
   • Echo finding (answer)
   • Swimming fast
   • Living in a pod

Words

• matriline: a mother's family
• pod: an orca family
• herd: gather together
• echolocation: echo finding