Dichotmous Key Brainstorming on bears (Ursinae)

1. Question 2 2a. bear has broad snout=sun bear 2b. bear has slender snout= american black bear

2. Question 4: 4a. bear is native to the Arctic Circle= polar bear 4b. bear is found in India= sloth bear

3. Question 6: 6a. bear is found in China...7 6b. bear is found in North America and Europe= brown bear

4. Question 8 8a. bear has a long tail= red panda 8b. bear has a short tail...9

5. Question 10: 10a. bear is found in North America...12 10b. bear is not found in North America...13

6. Question 11: 11a. bear is in the genus melursus= sloth bear 11b. bear is in the genus helarctus= sun bear

7. Possible topics for questions: 1. genus the bear belongs to (BW) 2. color of bears fur (CS) 3. where the bears are found (CS) 4. what the bears eat (VT) 5. the physical size of the bear (VT) 6. what environments they live in (CS) 7. physical features of the bear (BW)

7.1. Let's go from here and create questions for the dichotomous key. we have to have at least ten questions. CS

7.1.1. Sounds good. Each of us just start writing questions and we can connect them as we work in order to create a key that flows. VT

7.2. Here are the genus and what bears from each that I found we can use: 1. Ailuropoda (Giant Panda) 2. Helarctus (Sun Bear) 3. Melursus (Sloth bear) 4. Ursus (American black bear, brown bear, Asiatic bear, and polar bear) 5. Ailurus (red panda) BW

7.2.1. bear has short hair, bear has long hair (CS)

7.2.2. bear is found in North American, bear is found in China (VT)

7.2.3. bear has a long tail, bear has a short tail (BW)

7.2.4. bear is in the genus ursus, bear is not in genus ursus (BW)

7.2.5. bear is one color, bear is more than one color (CS)

7.2.6. bear has a broad snout, bear has a wide snout (VT)

7.2.7. bear is rather big, bear is rather small (CS)

8. Pictures of the bears we can use. VT

8.1. Giant Panda

8.2. Sun Bear

8.3. Sloth Bear

8.4. American Black Bear

8.5. Brown Bear

8.6. Asiatic Black Bear

8.7. Polar Bear

8.8. Red Panda

9. Question 1: 1a. bear has short hair...2 1b. bear has longer hair...3

10. Question 3: 3a. the bear's fur is one color...4 3b. the bear's fur is more than one color...5

11. Question 5: 5a. bear is rather big...6 5b. bear is rather small= red panda

12. Question 7: 7a. the bear's diet is 99% bamboo= giant panda 7b. bear is omnivorous= Asiatic black bear

13. Question 9: 9a. bear is in the genus ursus...10 9b. bear is not in the genus ursus...11

14. Question 12: 12a. bear has black fur= American black bear 12b. bear has brown fur= brown bear

15. Question 13: 13a. bear has white fur= polar bear 13b. bear has black fur= Asiatic bear