Here is a cool podcast with some questions which can be used in class or given as homework!

The podcast is 12 minutes long and comes with a transcript which that students can read while listening. This allows them to follow along and answer the questions more easily. It’s also good for students whose listening skill is still not good enough to catch the answers.

I usually assign the podcast as homework and give them the questions for them to answer as they listen. This can also be used as listening practice in class.

The answers are given below.

Click here for the transcript!

Podcast Questions:

1. What Netflix show are they talking about?
2. What is Lauren Esposito’s job?
3. What animal does Ashlee Rowe study?
4. Why does the mouse attack the scorpion?
5. How much does this mouse weigh?
6. Can you keep two of these male mice in the same cage? What happens?
7. What is special about the scorpion’s venom?
8. What is the venom conservation hypothesis?
9. Can the mice get stung by a scorpion? What happens when the mice get stung?
10. What does the scorpion need to do to fight off this predator?
11. Why does the mouse howl?
12. How can the scorpion detect a predator or prey?

Extra Discussion Questions:

1. Do you like watching nature documentaries? Why, why not?
2. What’s your favorite animal? Which animals do you find gross?
3. Would you consider eating insects? Why, why not?
4. Would you like to be an animal scientist? Why, why not?
5. What would you do if you saw a mouse in your house?

Podcast Answers:

1. They are talking about Night on earth, which is a Netflix documentary show.
2. She is the curator of arachnology at the California Academy of Sciences.
3. She studies the grasshopper mouse. They are super cute.
4. The mouse finds the scorpion delicious and is a scorpion eating expert.
5. They weigh about 20 to 50 grams.
6. No, these mice are very territorial and will fight each other if they are put into the same cage.
7. They can control how effective their venom is. They can use a stronger or a weaker venom depending on what they are stinging.
8. It basically says that if your body has to produce things and those things cost you energy to produce, you want to use the least amount in any given circumstance, so you don’t want to waste all your energy.
9. Yes, they can, they have developed venom resistance after getting stung so many times. It also makes the mouse more powerful.
10. Scorpions must evolve to produce stronger and stronger venom to defend itself from this mouse.
11. They call to each other and warn each other that they are entering another mouse’s territory.
12. They feel vibrations on the surface. They have, what amounts to, tiny little ears on their feet that pick-up vibrations. This allows the scorpion to run or fight.

Downloadable Questions and Answers:

There you have it. Leave a comment if you’ve tried this and what your students thought!

If you want more podcasts and even videos, find them all here!