When Wolves Returned to Yellowstone, Read and Answer

Ask your child to draw the chain from willows to elk to wolves before reading, then add the beavers after. Point out the questions that ask for two answers. The answer key lists the accepted answers.

Read how wolves returning to Yellowstone changed elk, willows and beavers, and why it is hard to prove. A national park is land the country protects for nature and for visitors. The directions on the page read: Read the passage. Then, turn the page and answer the questions. On page 2: Circle the letter of the best answer for questions 1 to 3, and write the answers to questions 4 to 6 on the lines. The answer key covers the questions on page 2.

Yes, both. We made it for 5th Grade ecosystems, and the page works the same whether it lands on a kitchen table or a center rotation. At home, most families go through it together and talk the answers out loud, and that talking is where most of the learning happens with predators and prey. In class it runs well as independent work while you pull a small group. Print one copy or thirty, whichever the day needs.

A predator is an animal that hunts other animals for food, like a wolf or a barn owl. Prey is the animal that is hunted, like an elk or a vole. Matter moves from the prey to the predator when it is eaten.

Elk began to move around more, some young willows and aspens grew taller, and beavers came back to some streams. Many scientists think the wolves helped, but the weather and other animals changed too, so one cause is hard to prove.

An owl has no teeth and swallows small prey whole. It cannot digest the bones and fur, so hours later it coughs them up as a gray lump called a pellet. Scientists pull pellets apart and match the skulls to learn what the owl ate.

Yes. All three predators and prey sheets have an answer key, with sample answers for the questions children answer in their own words.

3 printable worksheets, all free to preview. Downloads are included with a ClassWeekly free trial, and every page prints on standard 8.5 x 11 paper.

These are written for 5th Grade students, roughly ages 10-11. Many teachers also use them a grade up for review or a grade down as an extension, so use the preview to judge the fit for a particular child.

Yes. Each one shows the NGSS code it covers on its own page, so you can check the alignment yourself rather than taking our word for it.