This collection of student work is from
Frank Keim's classes. He has wanted to share these works for others
to use as an example of Culturally-based curriculum and documentation. These
documents have been OCR-scanned. These are available
for educational use only.
American Black Bear
The Black bear is the most widespread and
numerous bear in North America. The Black bear spreads from the Sierra
Madre in Northern Mexico to Arctic Canada and Alaska. The population
of the Black bear is between 400,000 and 750,000. The Black bear can
be cinnamon, beige, white, and blue in color. Though many call it a
four-legged "garbage
grinder," it may feed on berries, carcasses, dead fish, ants and other
insects, acorns, beech nuts, wild cherries, honey, grass and herbs--anything
edible. They even kill baby moose. Some cabins, camps, food caches,
garbage cans and town dumps are often raided for food.
Black bears are the smallest bears in North
America. The males are a third bigger than the females. A female will
share her range with another female offspring, who will take over the
range if the mother dies. Black bears usually mate around May and June.
A female usually has only two cubs but might have up to four cubs. When
they are born they weigh between 8.4 to 11.4 ounces. When they are about
five weeks old they start walking. They follow their mother after they
leave the den in Spring. Two years later they are on their own.
By Robert Pitka
Marshall
Cultural Atlas
