The Ripple Effect: National Geographic Sept/Oct 2003

Part 1: Summarizing the Article

1. When did wolves become extirpated (destroyed completely) from Yellowstone National Park?

2. When were wolves reintroduced? How many were introduced? How many exist in the park at the time the article was written?

3. Why was the dead wolf wearing a radio collar? How many wolves in the park are radio collared?

4. What is the relationship between coyotes and wolves?

5. Why are wolf kills important for other species in the park?

6. How has the wolves affected the elk population in the park? Is this effect a positive or negative thing?

7. How do people feel about the wolf reintroduction?

8. What is meant by the term, 'keystone species' ?

9. Why is the article called the ripple effect? Identify some of the ripples.

Part 2: Analyzing the Biological Community

1. Use a graphic organizer (mind map, flow chart, Venn diagram) to depict how the reintroduction of the grey wolf effected the community of Yellowstone.

Rubric:

Category / 4 / 3 / 2 / 1
Communication / Graphic organizer has a title and is labeled clearly and correctly. It is neat and has all the important information organized in an easy-to-read way.
There are no spelling or grammar mistakes. / Graphic organizer has a title and clear labels. There are few mistakes or missing information. The information could be organized better.
There are some spelling or grammar mistakes. / Graphic organizer has no title and labels are not clear or are missing. Some information is missing. Organization is not good and work is messy and difficult to read.
There are some spelling or grammar mistakes. / Graphic organizer has no title and few labels. Organization is poor and work is very difficult to read. Lots of information is missing. There are many spelling and grammar mistakes.
Knowledge
(Depth of Coverage) / - Shows a solid grasp of the content
- extension of the key ideas show a deep understanding of the content / - shows a solid grasp of most of the content
- shows extension of most key ideas / - shows a basic level of coverage of key ideas only
- attempts extension of few ideas / - care minimum of content covered
- no extension of ideas evident