Built For Survival: the American Bison

Questions

1. Details Where does the American bison live?

   the northern forests of Canada, the northern United States and Alaska near lakes, rivers and coasts across North America the grasslands and prairies of North America cool, misty mountain forests in China
2. Details Which of these does the American bison eat?

   sedges earthworms small lizards ducks
3. Cause and effect According to the passage, how does the American bison use a thick, shaggy winter coat?

   It protects its paws from the burning sand. It keeps it warm in freezing prairie winds. It helps it hide in tall grass and shadows while it stalks prey. It helps it find insects in the dark.
4. Main idea What is paragraph 3 mostly about?

   why some animals are in danger how it gets food how its young survive where the animal sleeps
5. Vocabulary The passage says the American bison is a herbivore. What is a herbivore?

   an animal that lives only in water an animal that eats other animals an animal that sleeps all winter an animal that eats only plants
6. Evidence Which sentence from the passage best supports the idea that the American bison's body suits its home?

   Consider a thick, shaggy winter coat: this adaptation keeps it warm in freezing prairie winds. Facts like this remind us that every animal's body tells a story about the place it lives. As a herbivore, the American bison is an animal that eats only plants; it depends on grasses and sedges. For many animals, a habitat like this would be impossible.
7. Inference Based on the passage, why would the American bison have trouble surviving somewhere near fresh water?

   It would forget how to find its home. Its young would be called something else. It would grow too big. Its body and habits are suited to a place that is wide and open.
8. Vocabulary As used in the passage, what is an adaptation?

   a place where an animal sleeps a change in the weather from season to season a trait that helps a living thing survive in its environment a story about where an animal came from
9. Author's purpose Why does the author describe how the American bison lives in herds that roam the prairie to find fresh grass?

   to explain how the animal was named to describe the weather where it lives to compare it with a pet dog to show that behavior can be an adaptation, not just body parts
10. Text structure How does the author organize the passage?

    by describing a challenge, then the traits that help the animal meet it as a story told by the animal by comparing two different animals in time order, from the animal's birth to old age

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