Saving the Panda: teacher key

Giant Pandas, grade 8 edition, written for 8th grade. Giant pandas live in a few mountain forests of China and eat one plant. Read what China did, what the surveys counted, and how the IUCN lists the panda today.

Read the book. Print this page for the key.

Questions and answers

1. How long can a female giant panda have cubs each year?
   • A two- to three-day window (answer)
   • The whole spring
   • All year long
2. How many reserves had China set up to protect giant pandas by 2016?
   • 16
   • 67 (answer)
   • 167
3. Two national surveys counted 1,596 and then 1,864 wild giant pandas. How many more did the second survey count?
   • 268 more (answer)
   • 1,864 more
   • 3,460 more
4. What did the IUCN do in 2016?
   • Moved the giant panda from Endangered to Vulnerable (answer)
   • Moved the giant panda from Vulnerable to Endangered
   • Closed all the reserves
5. What does poaching mean?
   • Counting animals
   • Illegal hunting (answer)
   • Feeding animals

Words

• poaching: illegal hunting
• reserves: protected lands
• habitat: natural home
• Vulnerable: at risk
• surveys: careful counts