1. Graph A. Which month had the highest average rainfall? ___________
   
   
2. Graph A. Which month had the lowest average rainfall? ___________
   
   
3. Graph A. In which months does the dry season occur? ________________________________
   
   
4. Graph A. In which month does the wet season begin? ____________
   
   
5. Graph B. During what month does the water in the gator hole become lower than the surrounding
   ground? ____________    Is this at the end or the beginning of the dry season? _______
   
   
6. Graph C. In which month was the numbers of fish in the gator hole the highest? ____________
   
   
7. Graph C. Between which two months did the fish population decrease the most? ________________   and __________________
   
   
8. Graph D & C. In which month was the numbers of gators in the gator holes the highest? _______________________
   
   
9. Graphs B & D. True or False. The greatest number of gators lived in the gator hole when the water depth reached 50 inches.
   
   
10. Graphs B & C. The fish population in the gator hole reached a peak when the water depth in the gator hole was __________ inches.
    
    
11. How many alligators are in the gator holes in April? ___________
    
    
12. Graph E. Why do you think the number of fish species in the gator holes is greatest in April?

    ___________________________________________________________________________

13. Graph D. About how many alligators are usually in a gator hole? _______
    
    
14. Graph B, C & D.. The number of fish in a gator hole dropped from almost 200,000 in April to almost zero in May.
    
    Why? __________________________________________________
    
    
    
    
15. Graph B & D. The number of gators in a gator hole dropped from 15 in April to under 3 in May.

    Why? ___________________________________________________________

16. If the least rain fell in December, why was the level of water in the gator hole lowest in April?

    _______________________________________________________________________________

17. Would the number of raccoons, river otters, and wading birds that eat fish increase or decrease around the gator hole during the dry season? ____________
    
    
18. The wood stork, a fish eating bird lives in Big Cypress Swamp will not lay eggs in years with very heavy rainfall. WHY DO YOU THINK THIS MIGHT HAPPEN? Use these clues.

• Wood storks nest high above the ground in the branches of bald cypress trees.
• Wood storks do not catch fish by looking for them- they feel for them. With their long beak halfway open, the birds grope in the water for fish. When they touch their prey, their beaks instantly snap shut.
• To feed their young, the wood stork parents take turns flying to ponds, where they catch and swallow a large amount of fish. Then the adult wood stork flies back and regurgitates the partly digested fish into the nest for the young to eat. Until the babies are old enough to defend themselves, one parent always remains at the nest.

          Why won’t the wood stork lay their eggs in years with very heavy rainfall?

ALLIGATORS