Coyote Lab Answer Key
7th grade Environmental Science
Mrs. Krempa
Please use thisanswer key to grade the Coyote Lab.
Use the check boxes on the rubric to check what is correct OR incorrect for each item.
If the checkboxes are not used or used incorrectlyI will take points off YOUR lab!
Pay careful attention to the example / real answer to the questions and how the examples are worded.
Base your score off of how close theanswer is to the actual given answer.
If your score isn’t close to mine – I will take double points off of the final grade of YOUR lab!!
Do NOT total the points when you are done grading the lab! Hand the lab back the person to total their own.
#1. The coyotethat gathered the 25 pounds of food to survive in my group was the ___ coyote.
OR
The coyotes that gathered the 25 pounds of food to survive in my group were the ___ and ___ coyote.
AND
*two choices for the mother coyote – either she and her babies die without the 50 pounds, OR
she gathered enough for herself to live(at least 25 pounds) but her cubs would die.
#2. The Mother coyote did not get the 50 pounds of food needed to feed herself and her cubs. In the wild,
the Mother would think only of survival. She would feed the cubs as long as she could, but when it came down to her or the cubs living, she would let the cubs die. If the Mother died (let herself starve), who would care for / feed the cubs?
#3. The coyote that collected the most food for my group was the ___ coyote.
#4. The coyote that collected the most food for the class was the ___ coyote. The ___ coyote collected
__ pounds of food which was (was not) enough for the coyote to live.
#5. The ___ coyote collected the most food for both my group and the class.
OR
The ___ coyote gathered the most food for my group but___ coyote collected the most for the class.
The coyote(s) that lived does make sense because the (Healthy, Mother) coyote did not have any disabilities that would make it hard to hunt for food. The uninjured/disables coyote(s) could out compete the injured coyotes and get more food.
The ___ coyote(s) living did not surprise me because they(it) are(is) healthy and have no problems.
OR
The broken leg (lame) coyote collecting the most food surprised me! I never though a coyote with a
broken leg would be able to out hunt a healthy, not hurt coyote! It has a broken leg… How did it get the most food?!?
6. There is no way that the food collected by the blind coyote is accurate. First of all, the person could have
opened their eyes at any time during the lab and looked at where the food or their den was. Also, the “blind” coyote watched where Mrs. Krempa spread the food in the room before the lab started!
*From personal experience… When I was the blind coyote for a group, the only way I picked up one piece of food was that I knew it was right by my left toe before I closed my eyes!!
#7. This one is either right or wrong!Please look at the SmartBoard!
#8.Check the SmartBoard for the difference!
The difference between the carrying capacity and the actual number of coyotes was ___. That is a
small/large difference since you are talking about living creatures. The carrying capacity was smaller than the actual number of coyotes in the classroom.
OR ( almost all in one wonderful sentence…)
The carrying capacity was ___ smaller than the actual number of coyotes in the classroom. The
difference between the two is big/small.
#9. There were only some coyotes that survived because the class population was above the carrying
capacity. Since the class was over carrying capacity, some of the coyotes died because there was not enough food to keep every coyote in the class alive -even at the start of the activity.
Can include ideas like…
In fact, __ (#) of coyotes would need to die (the difference in #12) just to get the population down
to carrying capacity. Even then, if a population was full right to carrying capacity, competition for all needed resources would be intense.
#10. Can include but is not limited to…
Blind coyote opening their eyes – good for blind coyote, get more food
Lame coyote walking on both legs – good for lame coyote, get more food
Stealing out of another’s den – good for thief, get more food
Taking more than one piece at a time – good for cheater, get more food
Distribution of food – good if lots are close to you, bad if most food is across the room
Placement of den – good if den is close to food, bad if most food is across the room
Putting your food in another’s den – good for them, bad for you
Adding wrong – wrong math will give you more or less than you should have
Reading pounds on cards wrong – mistaking a L for a 7 would greatly increase your total!
#11. Overall, my group was higher than the class for the __ and __ coyotes and lower than the class for the
___ and ___ coyotes.
(Or whatever pattern you have. No pattern? Well then, that’s a pattern! No pattern means there is no
correlation between the class and your data, no inferences can be drawn – and that is worth saying!! )
There are many factors that could have affected how much food each coyote collected…
*pick a few reasons from #10 and explain!
*Or come up with NEW reasons like the ones in #10 and explain…