A Comeback in the Wild: teacher key

Peregrine Falcons, grade 5 edition, written for 5th grade. Peregrine falcons dive from high above to hunt. Find out how they nest, how pesticide hurt them and how people helped them come back.

Read the book. Print this page for the key.

Questions and answers

1. What made peregrine eggshells thin?
   • Cold winters
   • The pesticide DDT (answer)
   • Too little food
2. What did biologists do to help the falcons?
   • Built cities
   • Moved them to Antarctica
   • Raised young falcons and released them (answer)
3. What is a scrape?
   • A small dip where eggs are laid (answer)
   • A kind of prey
   • A bird call
4. How far can some Arctic peregrines fly in a year?
   • About 15 miles
   • More than 15,000 miles (answer)
   • About 150 miles
5. Why were peregrine numbers low after DDT?
   • Cities had no food
   • They flew too fast
   • Thin eggshells broke (answer)

Words

• pesticide: bug killer
• scrape: small dip
• captivity: not wild
• migrate: travel seasonally
• endangered: nearly gone