Questions for "The High Life"

Read the Audubon article "The High Life" by Lily Whiteman and answer these questions in complete sentences in your journal.

1. Why do mountain climbers like to spend at least a month at base camps at the foot of Mt. Everest before starting their climb?
2. Give the height, weight and wingspan of bar-headed geese in metric units.
3. Describe three bar-headed goose wing characteristics that assist them in flying at 50 mph.
4. With a good tailwind, how fast would the geese "appear" to be flying when observed from the ground ?
5. Dr. Tenney said that the goose's aerobic success begins with it being a bird. Describe a breathing system feature that make birds so aerobically capable.
6. In addition, bar-headed geese have two other changes that make them "super birds". Describe these.
7. What is Dr. Lawrence Swan's hypothesis ?
8. Tibet is now a cold high desert. When the ancestors of today's bar-headed geese started migrating, what might have drawn them to Tibet?
9. How do young bar-headed geese learn their migration routes ?
10. Why is the bar-headed goose's migration called a "behavioral fossil" ?
11. List four cues that migrating birds may use to find their way.
12. Create a bar graph showing the migration altitudes of bar-headed geese, most songbirds, and most waterfowl. Show the lone mallard's height recorded above Elko Nevada. Use a ruler and be sure to label the graph completely.