ElephantsandWolvesFT

You've read the eBook Elephants Under Pressure on Myon and you've watched Assignment America.
Elephants Under Pressure gave us more detailed and fact-based information about elephants because the first chapter talked about elephants and what they are doing and then the rest of the book talked about what people do to elephants and what is going to happen to them if humans don't change. Assignment America is the most successful in helping me to understand animal relationships because it was an elephant and a dog that were best friends/partners. An elephant and a dog being best friends and never leaving each other is like a human and an iguana never going anywhere without each other.
 * **Which gave you more detailed and fact-based information about elephants and elephant society? Justify your answer with examples.**
 * **Which was the most successful in helping you to understand animal relationships? Justify your answer with examples.**

Watch the video How Wolves Change Rivers. (see below)

 * **Discuss answers to the following questions as a group: (1) What is a trophic cascade? (2) What is a food chain? (3) How long had the wolves been absent from Yellowstone? (4) Without wolves, how did the increasing deer population affect the ecology of Yellowstone? (5) How did the deer react when the wolves were reintroduced? (6) What does "regenerate" mean? What caused the trees to begin to regenerate? (7) What helped the beaver population to increase? (8) What is a "niche"? How did the increasing beaver population create additional niches? (9) How did this trophic cascade cause the rivers to become more stable? Provide specific examples of the changes to the rivers and river banks.**


 * **Discuss in groups how the photography and sound tract help to support the scientific information and help to develop a deeper understanding of factors that influence the ecology of the area.**

George Monbiot created the video. The academic background of George Monbiot
 * **Who created this video? What is the producer's academic background for work? What is the source of the information?**

Read Has the Reintroduction of Wolves Really Saved Yellowstone. from the Popular Science website (See text below)

 * **Discuss answers to the following questions as a group: (1) With the wolves absent from Yellowstone park, what happened to the elk population? (2) How did the elk population affect the trees, especially the willow trees? (3) What is a food web? Why is the wolf an "apex predator" in a food web? (4) What is one of the main animals that wolves eat? (5) Why are the willows in some areas not recovering very fast? (6) What is one reason the beaver population decreased while the wolves were absent from the area? (7) What are other factors that might have affected the population of elks and beavers?**


 * **Compare reading the article with watching the video. Which was easier to understand? Why?**

Emily Gertz wrote this article.
 * **Who wrote this article? What is the writer's academic background for work? What is the source of the information?**