Tigers In The Wild
By: Amy Houts and Shawn South Aswad

Before Reading:
Before you get ready to read you might want to know a little bit about tigers!   Click here to visit the Interactive Zookeeper.  Here you will learn a little bit about how to take care of a tiger. Next visit the Oakland Zoo website, this website is full of information about tigers just like the one in your story! Did you listen to the tigers growl and the myths about them?

During Reading:
While you are reading think about how you would feel if you were in Takani's position.  Would you react the same way he did, or would you do something differently?  On a separate sheet of paper answer the following questions:
1. Why do you think Tekani was sad?
2. How do you think Tekani would feel if he were brightly colored and why? What would happen to him if he were?
3. Why is Tekani colored the way he is?
4. What makes you different from your friends and classmates?
5. What makes your best friend different from you?

After Reading:
Now that you are finished reading Tigers in the Wild you are going to work with different camouflaged animals.
Activity One:
Look at the tiger below.

The tiger is missing something! Can you figure out what it is missing? Good Job!  He is missing his stripes.  You are are going to be in charge of giving him his stripes.  Using the construction paper provided pick out two colors that would be appropriate for a tigers skin.  Remember tigers come in many different shades.  Pick one color to use as the main color and one to use as the stripes.  Now you are ready to cut out your tigers stripes.  What do you want them to look like?  Are they wiggly, jagged, or straight.  What about your classmates?  Are there any two stripes in your class that look the same?  Probably not!
Activity Two:
Using the construction paper provided, you are now going to make a camouflage animal.  This does not need to be a tiger, it can be any real animal that you want.  Pick out an animal and the appropriate colors for that animal.  Using the paper and markers create a natural environment for this animal.  Look at your classmates artwork.   How many different animals are naturally camouflaged for protection?  Do you know why?

  Beyond Reading:
Tou are now becoming a tiger expert.  To gain more knowledge you can look at the links below.  The following websites are full of fun and interesting information about tigers!  Click on them to explore this additional information.

Here you can find a picture of a white Bengal tiger.

Click here to see a tigers body.  You can see how it works and the different body organs!

Aki the Tiger is full of fun games to play!

Send your family and friends a virtual tiger greeting card!

Visit this site for fun games and activities involving tigers and other jungle animals.