Animals & Senses
Which five basic senses do humans have?
Sight, smell, hearing, taste, touch.
Which animal uses echolocation to navigate and find food at night?
Bat.
What kind of radiation can some snakes detect as a “sixth sense”?
Infrared (heat).
What event caused thousands of people to travel to California in 1848–1849?
The California Gold Rush (discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill).
What type of graph shows how information changes over time with points connected by lines?
Line graph.
Which sense helps a catfish find food using whiskers with many taste buds?
Taste (catfish use taste buds on whiskers).
How can a bat tell how big or how far away an object is using echolocation?
By sending sound waves that bounce off objects and returning echoes; bats interpret time and quality of echo.
List three other types of waves that are part of the electromagnetic spectrum besides infrared.
Radio waves, microwaves, visible light, ultraviolet, x-rays, gamma rays. (Any three.)
Who bought up all the picks and shovels and became rich by selling them at high prices?
Sam Brannan.
In the provided Gold Rush data, what year showed the first big jump in gold produced (from 0 to a higher number)?
1849 (rise from 0 in 1848 to 10 million in 1849).
What is hibernation and name one animal that hibernates?
Hibernation is sleeping for long periods in winter; example: bear (also bats, groundhogs, skunks, snakes, bees).
Which animal has about 2,000 olfactory receptors in its trunk and a much stronger sense of smell than humans?
Elephant.
What technology did people develop inspired by bat echolocation to find objects underwater?
Sonar
What is an entrepreneur? Give one example from the Gold Rush text who was an entrepreneur.
An entrepreneur starts a business to make money; examples: Levi Strauss, John Studebaker, Philip Armour, Wells & Fargo, Luzena Wilson.
According to the Gold Rush line data, around which year did gold production peak?
Around 1851–1852 (peak around 75–92 million75–92 million).
Why might an animal need stronger senses than a human? Give one example from the text.
To survive (hunt/avoid predators); example: bats have sensitive hearing for night navigation.
Which bird has eyesight much better than humans and can spot prey from far away?
Bald eagle.
Why can aquatic animals use electroreception more easily than land animals?
Water conducts electrical signals better than air, so electroreception travels farther/easier.
How did Levi Strauss change his business plan to make money during the Gold Rush?
He started with tent fabric idea, then made durable pants (jeans) that miners bought.
Describe one way people used maps, charts, or diaries (primary sources) to learn about life during the Gold Rush.
Examples: Using diaries as primary sources to learn daily life; mapping population growth of San Francisco; charts of gold production.
Explain how cavefish navigate without sight. Which sense becomes stronger?
They use enhanced hearing (detect slight noises) — cavefish rely on hearing.
Name two animals mentioned that migrate and two that hibernate.
Migrate: birds, butterflies, whales, reindeer; Hibernate: bears, bats, groundhogs, snakes, bees.
Explain how humans use infrared technology differently than snakes, according to the text.
Humans need devices (infrared cameras/goggles) to detect infrared; snakes sense it naturally.
Explain how supply and demand helped Sam Brannan make a profit from miners.
Brannan bought all tools, reduced supply while demand rose, then charged high prices (e.g., pans sold for $15 instead of $0.20).
Look at the gold production table: explain the overall trend from 1848 to 1860 and give one reason why production might have declined after the peak.
Trend: rapid rise early (1848–1852) then general decline and leveling off by 1860. Possible reasons: easier gold mined out, fewer new miners, mining became more industrial/expensive.