A Roar in the Darkness

synthesizing, vocabulary, key details, inference, interpreting text, author’s craft, supporting details, problem and solution, compare and contrast, explanatory writing

The article retells an incident from 1898 when two lions repeatedly attacked British railroad workers in Kenya. Its pairing describes the shrinking lion population and a group that is working to protect lions.

The first text is chronological until the last section, which examines the incident through a modern lens. The second text is informational.

Both articles include some challenging vocabulary (e.g. drought, jubilant, habitat) and sensory details to describe lions.

The text refers to Kenya, East Africa, England, and other places, as well as the movie The Lion King.

• As a class, look at the photo and headline on page 15. Ask students to share words that describe the lion. Then have them do the same for the photo on page 19. Discuss: Which words are similar? Which are different? What might this tell you about the two articles?
• Invite a volunteer to read aloud the Up Close box on page 15. Prompt students to predict what they might learn about lions in the articles.
  
• Distribute the vocabulary activity to introduce challenging words in the text. Highlighted words: preyed, gruesome, single-minded, carcasses, jubilant, drought, poachers, habitat
  

Read the articles as a class. Then put students in groups to answer the close-reading and critical thinking questions.

“A Roar in the Darkness”

Close-Reading Questions

• Based on the first section and the map, where and when did the events of the article take place? What was Colonel J.H. Patterson doing there? Why was he “terrified”? (key details) The events took place in 1898 in East Africa, in what is now Kenya. Colonel Patterson was leading 4,000 workers to clear a path to build a railroad. He was terrified because two lions had been stalking and killing the workers as they slept in their tents.
• Why didn’t Patterson believe at first that lions were attacking the workers? What does this tell you about why these attacks have gotten a lot of attention over the years? (inference) Patterson didn’t believe it because lions don’t ordinarily attack humans, especially if the people are in a group. These attacks have probably gotten attention because they were so unusual. People didn’t understand the strange lion behavior.
  
• Patterson wrote that some of the workers believed the lions were “devils in lions’ shape.” Later he mentioned their “growling in a sinister manner.” What do these phrases tell you about people’s views of the lions at that time? (interpreting text) The phrases suggest that people didn’t think the lions were simply hunting for the food they needed to survive. They believed the lions had evil intentions and wanted to hurt humans.
  
• How does author Lauren Tarshis build suspense in the section “Crazy With Fear”? (author’s craft) Tarshis describes the steps Patterson took to defeat the lions, each one seeming more dangerous for the colonel. As Patterson waits for the lions to appear, the reader doesn’t know when a lion might attack. Later, the suspense grows as one of the lions circles Patterson’s platform, and the reader doesn’t know if Patterson will survive.
  
• Reread the section “Modern Answers.” What reasons have scientists found that explain the attacks? (key details) Scientists have found that the lions were probably facing a food shortage because a drought and a disease outbreak had killed many of the animals the lions would have ordinarily eaten. They attacked humans because they were hungry and couldn’t get other food. One also had a tooth problem that made hunting difficult.
  

"These Lions Need Your Help"

Close-Reading Questions

• What statistics (facts presented with numbers) in the article show that the lion population is in trouble? (supporting details) The article says that the lion population has dropped 45 percent in the past 20 years. In the past century, the number of lions has gone from 200,000 to 20,000, and they have lost three-quarters of their habitat.
• What threats do lions currently face? (problem and solution) With a greatly decreased habitat, they don’t have enough room to roam and find the food they need. Poachers catch the animals the lions would eat, making it even harder for lions to get enough. Lions are also killed by farmers protecting their animals from lion attacks.
  
• What solutions has Panthera found? (problem and solution) Panthera helps keep lions away from homes and farms, so people don’t feel threatened by them. It helps farmers protect their animals with lion-proof pens. And it raises money for Africa’s national parks, so they can pay for equipment and guards to help keep lions safe.
  

Critical-Thinking Questions

• How did people’s views of the lions of Tsavo in 1898 differ from what we know about them today? (compare and contrast) In 1898, people thought the lions were evil killers, set on eating humans. Today, we know that they were hungry animals desperate to find food.
• How might the outcome for the workers in Tsavo and for the lions have been different if the humans had known more about the lions? (synthesizing) Answers will vary. Students might suggest that the workers could have built a more protective camp or moved to an area that wasn’t facing drought and disease; or, Patterson might still have killed the lions but seen it as a sad event.
  

• Have students complete our synthesizing activity, then respond to the writing prompt on page 19.