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Performance Task

Engineering a Mammoth

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A Mammoth Task

A Mammoth Task

You work on an exhibit featuring a wooly mammoth skeleton. Standing 15 feet from the assembled skeleton, the angle of elevation from your eyes to the top of the shoulder is 16°. Write your height as a percent of the mammoth's height. Then conduct research to estimate the total length of the mammoth from front to back.

Create an informational display about wooly mammoths that includes the following information:

  • typical shoulder heights and weights of wooly mammoths
  • the shoulder height of the particular mammoth on display
  • habitat and diet
  • reasons that the Arctic permafrost is thawing
  • how engineering mammoths could help keep the permafrost frozen

Photograph of a fossilized wooly mammoth skeleton shown from a museum display.

Did You Know?

  • Permafrost is any ground that remains completely frozen, 32°F (0°C) or colder, for at least two years straight. These permanently frozen grounds are most common in regions with high mountains and in Earth's higher latitudes, near the North and South Poles.
  • The active layer is a layer of soil on top of permafrost that does not stay frozen all year. In colder regions, the ground rarely thaws even in summer months. In warmer regions, the active layer can be several meters thick.

Find Out More – Search Topics

  • Wooly mammoth facts
  • What is permafrost?