The Mystery of Saint Matthew Island
Study Guide (p. 658)
1. How does the map on page 660 help the reader
understand the selection? The map is important
because it shows the location of St. Matthew Island
and how isolated the island is.
2. What is the main idea of the first two paragraphs on
page 660?
Reindeer are released on an island with plenty of food
available. Years later, almost the entire herd had died
off.
3. What conclusions can you draw about Dr. Klein
and the other investigators? Support your
conclusions with details from the text.
The investigators worked hard and were
determined to find out what happened to the
reindeer. They even put themselves in danger to
try to travel to such a hard to reach location.
page 661 “Arranging transportation to the remote
island was difficult. Located so far away from
anywhere that it is nearly impossible to reach.”
4. What effect do predators, parasites, and diseases
have on animal herds? Predators, parasites, and
diseases cause animals to die and can keep the
population down.
5. Why do you think the author uses a cut-away of
a reindeer bone? This shows us how things
would look in a real life animal. We can’t see
inside of a reindeer leg.
6. Dr. Klein studied the reindeer bones and
believed the animals had starved to death. What
had taken place earlier before this discovery that
would have led him to this conclusion?
Page 662 Klein had visited the island in summer
of 1963, and had weighed and counted the
reindeer at that time. He now noticed that the
reindeer weighed much less and the number of
reindeer had greatly decreased. When he visited
the island three years earlier some of the plants
looked overgrazed.
7. Why do you think authors use line graphs like
the one on page 666? The author uses line graphs
to show the increase and sharp decrease in the
population. He wants to show you how fast it
drops.
8. How did Dr. Klein’s work contribute to our
understanding of the natural world? If a species
has no natural predators and the population
increases rapidly their food source may become
scarce.
9. What was the same during Dr. Klein’s 1963 visit
to the island and his later to the island? In 1963
there were no predators…. There were no
predators when he returned.
10. What would be the author’s purpose for
writing this story? To provide information to a
scientific mystery
11. What is the main idea of the entire
selection? The selection explains the mystery
behind why all the reindeer died on St.
Matthew’s Island in a short time period.
12. Hypothesize what Dr. David Klein would
have written in his journal after his last trip to St.
Matthew Island.
I am sad to report that I believe that the
overpopulation of the animals, the lack of
predators and remote location of the island
all lead to the starvation and death of the
majority of the herd.