To accompany feature “The shocking electric eel!”

SCIENCE

Before reading:

1.    Name some different types of weapons that non-human animals use to hunt their prey.

2.    Have you ever gotten an electric shock? How did it happen?

During reading:

1.    Describe an electric eel.

2.    Where do electric eels live?

3.    Why can’t an electric eel rely on its sense of vision to hunt?

4.    How does an electric eel sense other animals around it?

5.    What are electroreceptors?

6.    Name two things electric eels use their weak electrical pulses for.

7.    What sorts of information can electric eels communicate to each other?

8.    An electric eel can remotely control its prey’s body in two ways. What are they?

9.    Why did Ken Catania put goldfish inside a plastic bag for some of his experiments?

10.  Name two things electric eels use their strong electrical pulses for.

After reading:

1.    Describe the sequence of events that takes place when an electric eel finds and kills another fish.

2.    Imagine you can sense electricity like an electric eel does. Describe what sorts of things would you detect in your school or home that you can’t with your usual five senses?