Performance Task:Wolves Don’t Make Good Pets

1curriculumspecialists.blogspot.comTeacher’s Guide: Summer of the Wolves, Polly Carlson-Voiles

RI.6.1, RI.6.7, RI.6.9, W.6.1a-e, W.6.9

TASK Having read about Nika’s experiences with Khan and Luna, you are now going write a letter

from Nika’s perspective to a boy or girl living in Minnesota who has rescued a wolf pup. This boy or girl

wants to raise the pup and then keep it as a pet. You must convince them, using your knowledge of

wolves, that this is not a good idea—for them or the wolf. Below are four sources to help you write your

letter.

 

In Part 1, you will review each source and answer the questions that follow.

Then, in Part 2, you will write your letter using what you’ve gathered from these sources as well as

your background knowledge from reading Summer of the Wolves by Polly Carlson-Voiles.

Part 1

Sources for Performance Task: Read each source carefully, thinking about what information it gives

you about wolves, as well as the challenges a person would face if he or she kept one as a pet. Answer

the questions that follow.

Source A: Passage from Summer of the Wolves (pages 182-184)

Nika sat down at the second computer to wait, then decided to do a search online. She plugged in

three words, Wolf as pet. And waited. Soon the screen was filled up with possibilities. Some of them

didn’t have anything to do with real wolves. She finally found one called, “So You’ve Always Wanted a

Pet Wolf?” That sounded promising. She double-clicked on the link.

• Wolves can eat 2-5 pounds of good meat a day over a lifetime of approximately 15 years. A diet of

dog food is not good for them.

• A wolf pup must not fully imprint on humans but needs some canine contact or else all its social

behavior, including natural aggression, will be directed toward humans. . .

• They need a pen that is half an acre at least with an 8-to-10-foot overhung fence, preferably buried

3 feet in the ground.

• They cannot live in houses. They will tear apart furniture out of curiosity and boredom. . .

Nika did some quick math. Eighty pounds of meat a month. Looking up a grocery ad on the computer,

she guessed that if meat cost three dollars a pound, it would cost at least $240 a month just for meat,

maybe more. Over $2,800 a year for food, and $44,800 for food for one wolf in its lifetime, if it lived to

be sixteen. . .

2curriculumspecialists.blogspot.comTeacher’s Guide: Summer of the Wolves, Polly Carlson-Voiles

Performance Task: Wolves Don’t Make Good Pets

Questions for Source A:

1. Underline at least two ways that owning a wolf as a pet would present a challenge.  2. After reading this passage, summarize in one sentence what you think the biggest problem with owning a wolf as a pet would be.

Source B: Wolf-Dog Hybrids, Article From the International Wolf Center Website

Wolf and wolf-dog hybrid ownership by private citizens has long been a contentious issue in the United States.Wolf-dog hybrid (hybrid for short) is a term used to describe an animal that is part wolf and part domestic dog. . . . Dogs evolved from wolves through a centuries-long process of domestication. Domestication is the process by which a wild animal adapts to living with humans by being selectively bred by humans over thousands of years. Through this process, a dog’s behavior, life cycle and physiology have become permanently altered from that of a wolf. . . Wolves and dogs mature at different rates, which makes the physical and mental development of a hybrid animal unpredictable. When a wolf reaches . . .maturity (anywhere from 1 to 4 years of age), their role in the pack often changes from that of a pup to an adult expected to contribute to the pack. Status becomes much more important, and the animal may begin testing its packmates to achieve a higher-ranking position in the pack. Testing or challenging of packmates can be transferred onto a human “leader” when a wolf is kept in captivity, causing the animal to be perceived as stubborn, bold or even aggressive.

Domestic dogs tend to mature much earlier (6 to 8 months of age) and have significantly fewer hormonal changes, but the challenging behavior still exists, although it is typically less intense in most breeds compared to wolves . . . Additionally, the territorial instinct of wolves to protect their food source . . . through defecation and urination may be transferred to the owner’s home. A couch or corner of the room may take the place of a tree or rock. Dogs, on the other hand, through domestication, have lost that instinct to urinate or defecate anywhere they feel is their territory and are easily trained to eliminate in a designated area. . . .

Wolves are social by nature and demand a great amount of attention and interaction from their pack. This expectation translates onto the owner when a wolf is kept in captivity. . .[W]hile many individuals do make an effort to become educated about the potential outcome of owning a wolf or hybrid, others unfortunately do not. This results in the animals being kept in an environment where their social and behavioral needs are not met. In these situations, the animals frequently spend their days in small cages or tied to chains, with very poor quality of life.When any animal, wild or domestic, is kept in conditions inadequate to their mental and physical needs, there is a safety risk for humans. This risk is almost always preventable through proper preparation before the animal is purchased and continued through responsible care for the animal over the duration of its life.

Source: http://www.wolf.org/learn/basic-wolf-info/wolves-and-humans/wolf-dog-hybrids/

3curriculumspecialists.blogspot.comTeacher’s Guide: Summer of the Wolves, Polly Carlson-Voiles

Performance Task: Wolves Don’t Make Good Pets

Questions for Source B:

1. Underline at least two ways that this article illustrates how owning a wolf or wolf hybrid as a pet would present a challenge.  2. After reading this article, what is one new piece of information that you might tell a person who is thinking of keeping a wolf or wolf-hybrid as a pet?

Source C: Basic Wolf Information, Taken From the International Wolf Center Website

How much do wolf pups weigh? [Pups] weigh about a pound at birth. By the time the pups are 6 months old, they are almost as big as the adults. How much do adult wolves weigh? Adult female gray wolves in northern Minnesota weigh between 50 and 85 pounds, and adult males between 70 and 110 pounds.  How many teeth does an adult wolf have? Adult gray and red wolves have 42 highly specialized teeth. The canine teeth, or fangs, can be 2 1/2 inches long and are used for puncturing and gripping.  How strong are a wolf’s jaws?  The biting capacity of a wolf is 1,000 to 1,500 pounds of pressure per square inch. The strength of a wolf’s jaws makes it possible to bite through a moose femur in six to eight bites.  What do wolves eat?  Wolves are carnivores, or meat eaters. Gray wolves prey primarily on ungulates – large, hoofed mammals such as white-tailed deer, mule deer, moose, elk, caribou, bison, Dall sheep, musk oxen, and mountain goats. Medium-sized mammals, such as beaver and snowshoe hares, can be an important secondary food source.  How much do wolves eat? Getting enough to eat is a full-time job for a wolf. When wolves catch and kill a large mammal, they will gorge and then rest while the food is being digested. They will generally consume all but the hide, some of the large bones and skull and the rumen (stomach contents of ungulates) of their prey. Gray wolves can survive on about 2 1/2 pounds of food per wolf per day, but they require about 7 pounds per wolf per day to reproduce successfully.  How fast can wolves run? Wolves will travel for long distances by trotting at about five miles per hour. They can run at speeds of 36 to 38 miles per hour for short bursts while chasing prey. 

Source: http://www.wolf.org/learn/basic-wolf-info/wolf-faqs/

4curriculumspecialists.blogspot.comTeacher’s Guide: Summer of the Wolves, Polly Carlson-Voiles

Performance Task: Wolves Don’t Make Good Pets

Questions for Source C:

1. Underline at least three facts about wolves that would make them difficult to keep as pets.  2. How might the fact that their teeth and jaws are so strong—designed for tearing into prey—make

them dangerous pets?

3. The fact that wolves are territorial might make them dangerous pets. Why would this be? What could happen?

Source D: Video of Wolves Interacting With Scientists

Click on the following link to view the short five minute video: YouTube Video on Wolves or type in this address: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pi3KPf1LuLM  Questions for Source D:1. What are some of the wolf behaviors you observed? What did those behaviors mean? 

3. Why did the one wolf snap at Steve? How did he show the wolf he wasn’t there to hurt him?

4. Give one example of the wolf behaviors in this video that might show how they could be dangerous to have as pets.

Part 2You will now review your sources, take notes, plan, write, and edit your letter. Your Assignment: You must now write a multi-paragraph letter from the point of view of Nika arguing why wolves and wolf-hybrids are not good pets. You must include information from all of the sources above, as well as what you learned reading Summer of the Wolves. Try to give your reader—a boy or girl in Minnesota who has found a wolf pup—as much background as possible on wolves and the challenges of raising them around humans. You can create a fictional name for the person you are writing to, but your letter should then be written in first person (using the pronouns “I” and “me”) from Nika’s perspective.

Your letter will be graded on the following:Accuracy and Strength of Content: How well did you incorporate information from the four sources into your letter? Did you present enough information and back-up your argument with facts and sound explanations? Did you make it clear the many challenges that would be present should your reader choose to keep that wolf pup as a pet?Organization: Is your letter organized clearly? Did you begin with a clear statement of purpose and follow it up with your arguments, each of which are supported by facts and information from the sources and the book? Conventions: How well did you follow the rules of grammar usage, capitalization, punctuation, and spelling?