The Wild Robot

Reading Check and Short Answer questions on key points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.

Chapters 1-10

Reading Check

1. Where does Roz come from?

2. What activates the robot?

3. Where does Roz decide to travel after several pinecones fall on her?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What does Roz reveal about her capabilities as a robot? How does the narrator clarify Roz’s emotions? How is the narrator’s commentary useful in this instance?

2. How do the animals respond to Roz? How does Roz use these interactions to learn about her surroundings?

3. What does the narrator reveal about Roz’s understanding of her place on the island?

Paired Resource

“Should You Trust Your First Impression?”

• This 5-minute video explores how the brain responds to first impressions.
• Shared themes include Acceptance of Difference and The Importance of Friends and Family.
• Why is it difficult to change first impressions? How does your brain impact first impressions? What impressions do the animals have of Roz?

Chapters 11-20

Reading Check

1. What forces Roz to escape the mountaintop?

2. What tactic is Roz able to learn from the stick insect?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. How does Roz use her knowledge and ingenuity to defeat the bears that attack her?

2. How does Roz’s experience in the wilderness illustrate the fact that she does not belong there? What steps does Roz take to resolve this problem?

Paired Resource

“Camouflage”

• This article explores the purpose of camouflage in the animal kingdom.
• Shared themes include Wilderness Versus Civilization and Acceptance of Difference.
• Why is camouflage used in the wild? How does camouflage help Roz to protect herself?

Chapters 21-30

Reading Check

1. What is the early hour called where animals agree not to hurt one another?

2. What does the rescued gosling call Roz?

3. What is Loudwing’s suggested name for Roz’s gosling?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why does the narrator believe it is good that Roz cannot feel human emotions?

2. What can the reader infer about Roz’s purpose in observing the geese? How does she further explore this topic with Pinktail?

Paired Resource

“Explore Animal Adaptations”

• This 9-minute video describes animal adaptations.
• Shared themes include Wilderness Versus Civilization and Acceptance of Difference.
• What is the purpose of adaptations in animals? What kind of adaptations is Roz able to observe in her environment?

Chapters 31-40

Reading Check

1. Who agrees to teach Roz about gardening?

2. What does Loudwing invite Brightbill to participate in at the pond?

3. Which of the squirrels becomes Brightbill’s new best friend?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. How does the garden change the relationship Roz has with the animals on the island?

2. What conflicts arise because of Roz’s unnatural parentage of Brightbill?

Chapters 41-50

Reading Check

1. Where does Brightbill go when he runs away from Roz?

2. Who creates a new foot for Roz?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. In what way does the author explore adolescent behavior in the novel? Why is the concept difficult for Roz to understand?

2. How does Roz extend compassion and forgiveness to the bears that attack her? What influence might her programming have on her response?

3. How is Roz’s analytical nature an advantage for Brightbill in comparison to the other goose parents?

Chapters 51-60

Reading Check

1. Who does Chitchat promise to look after when Brightbill migrates?

2. Who is Roz able to release in the river?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why does Roz become inactive after Brightbill migrates? What crisis causes her to become more active?

2. How does Crag describe the changing condition of the island? Why do the animals worry about the island?

3. What actions set Roz apart from the animals on the island? How does it help her to define her purpose?

Paired Resource

“Global Climate Change”

• This 6-minute video explores climate change and its impact on the world.
• Shared themes include Wilderness Versus Civilization.
• What is climate change? Why are small islands in danger because of climate change? How does the video support Crag’s description of the changes that have occurred in the weather and on the island?

“Hibernation”

• This article explains the purpose of hibernation.
• Shared themes include Wilderness Versus Civilization and The Importance of Friends and Family.
• Why do animals hibernate? Why is hibernation sometimes dangerous for animals? How does climate change affect hibernation? How do the animals in the novel experience hibernation? Why is their hibernation in this particular winter dangerous?

Chapters 61-67

Reading Check

1. What event does Roz invite the animals to?

2. What does Brightbill see when he sits on the mountain with Roz?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why does Roz become wilder? What motivates her to do so?

2. What does Brightbill discover about robots on his journey? What sets Roz apart from the other robots?

3. What is the significance of Roz’s party? What does it reveal about her time in the wild?

Chapters 68-80

Reading Check

1. What are the names of the three robots that emerge from the airship?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why is Roz identified as defective by the other robots? What about Roz sets her apart from the robots?

2. How do the animals respond to the attack on Roz? How does it reinforce the novel’s theme, The Importance of Friends and Family?

3. What is Roz’s final sacrifice for the animals on her island? Is it the best choice? Use evidence to support your answer.

Recommended Next Reads

The Wild Robot Escapes by Peter Brown

• In this sequel to The Wild Robot, Roz is taken back to the Makers for repairs, is repackaged, and is sent to work for a man on a farm.
• Shared themes include Wilderness Versus Civilization and The Importance of Friends and Family.
• Shared topics include adjusting to surroundings, sacrifice, and survival.
• The Wild Robot Escapes on SuperSummary

Pax by Sara Pennypacker

• This novel is about a boy who embarks on a journey to rescue his fox, which he was forced to abandon on the side of the road.
• Shared themes include Wilderness Versus Civilization, The Importance of Friends and Family, and Acceptance of Difference.
• Shared topics include anthropomorphism, isolation, and adaptation to surroundings.
• Pax on SuperSummary