Math Concept Reader MCR g4 on the math menu

Math Concept Reader

On the Menu:

Bamboo, Figs, and

Other Tasty Treats

Math Concept Reader

DIGITAL FINAL PROOF

DIGITAL FINAL PROOF

On the Menu:

Bamboo, Figs, and

Other Tasty Treats

By Sarah Mastrianni

Math Concept Reader

Copyright © Gareth Stevens, Inc All rights reserved.

Developed for Harcourt, Inc., by Gareth Stevens, Inc This edition published

by Harcourt, Inc., by agreement with Gareth Stevens, Inc No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any informa-tion storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright holder.

Requests for permission to make copies of any part of the work should be addressed to Permissions Department, Gareth Stevens, Inc., 330 West Olive Street, Suite 100, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53212 Fax: 414-332-3567.

HARCOURT and the Harcourt Logo are trademarks of Harcourt, Inc., registered in the United States of America and/or other jurisdictions.

Printed in the United States of America ISBN 13: 978-0-15-360188-0

ISBN 10: 0-15-360188-4

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 179 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 07

DIGITAL FINAL PROOF

Chapter 1:

Bonkers for Bamboo and Eucalyptus



Amanda is a zookeeper Her days are always busy

There are more than 2,000 animals to feed at her zoo

From apes to zebras, zookeepers take care of them all As a zookeeper, Amanda has many different responsibilities

Today Amanda’s first job is to make sure there is enough food for the Giant Panda for the week The panda is nearly two years old, but he eats 12 pounds

of bamboo a day! Amanda does the math

7 × 12 = 84; 84 pounds of bamboo Twelve pounds a day for seven days is 84 pounds

of bamboo Amanda has more than 100 pounds of fresh bamboo There is plenty to last the week

DIGITAL FINAL PROOF

Giant Pandas love bamboo

They can eat 12 pounds of bamboo a day!

(

Most of the bamboo fed to the pandas is grown

right at the zoo There are four acres of land that are

used to grow bamboo here Zoo workers harvest eight

tons of the plant each year That means about two

tons of bamboo grow on each acre Amanda is always

amazed by that fact, as well as by the large number of

other uses for bamboo It isn’t just used to feed pandas

Some people use bamboo to make furniture, forks,

and spoons It can even be used to make paper There

are so many kinds of bamboo at Amanda’s zoo Some

visitors spend a whole afternoon just learning about

this incredible, tall grass

Koalas must eat a lot of eucalyptus leaves

to get all the nutrients they need

)

Amanda stops to see the koalas before starting her next task She is surprised The koalas are awake

Koalas can sleep as many as 20 hours each day They are often found nestled in the fork of a tree

Amanda knows some people think koalas are cuddly because their fur looks thick and soft

However, their fur actually feels like the wool on

a sheep One koala weighs only about 20 pounds

It can eat as much as three pounds of food a day

Amanda knows they eat a lot because eucalyptus is

not very nutritious, or healthy The koalas have to eat large amounts of the leaves to get all the nutrients

they need

Amanda needs to order more food for the koalas

The koalas are picky eaters They eat only the leaves

of the eucalyptus tree Koalas eat between one and

three pounds of eucalyptus leaves each day Koalas

are one of very few species that can eat eucalyptus

These leaves contain toxins, or poisons, so most

animals won’t eat them Koalas, however, have

adapted to the toxin Their bodies have found a

way to not be harmed by the plant

Amanda orders enough of the leaves for three

pounds of food each day for each of the five koalas

She must order 15 pounds of food to last one day

5 × 3 = 15; 15 pounds of eucalyptus

5 × 3 = 15

Each koala will get 3 pounds of eucalyptus a day

Chapter 2:

Apples and Figs – One Pound Each Please



Amanda smiles as she leaves the koalas She heads over to the zoo’s newest mammal—an orangutan

This orangutan is on loan from another zoo It will be here for several months

Orangutans are the only great apes that come from Asia The other great apes come from Africa

Amanda is excited to have this ape at the zoo because she knows orangutans tend to have their own

personalities They often have strong likes and dislikes

In their native environment, orangutans eat bark, leaves, flowers, and insects Most importantly, they eat fruit Amanda checks a thick binder of notes that came with the orangutan She reads that this

orangutan loves apples and figs

DIGITAL FINAL PROOF

Orangutans in the wild and in zoos love to eat fruit

This orangutan has a mouth full of figs!

,

In the wild, orangutans spend most of their lives in

trees They swing from branch to branch Nearly all

of the food orangutans eat grows in the treetops Rain

fills leaves with water for them to drink

Amanda wants to be sure she has enough fruit for

the orangutan for the next six days She checks her

supplies Amanda weighs the fruit on a scale She sees

she has 12 pounds of apples and figs The animal

should have about two pounds of fruit each day She

does the math

12 ÷ 6 = 2; 2 pounds of fruit

She has plenty of fruit for the orangutan Amanda

leaves some fruit out before she heads to her next stop

Welcome to the Zoo!

May I help you?

Zoo Volunteer

-Amanda has been busy making sure there is enough food for the animals Now she is happy to meet a group of trained volunteers They help at the zoo in many ways

Today, Amanda has three jobs for the volunteers She needs help greeting visitors at the zoo’s entrance and planting beds of flowers in one of the zoo’s many gardens She also needs help repairing an empty zoo building It is being fixed up in order to house some new animal exhibits

Amanda is thrilled to see that nine volunteers are

at the zoo She is always happy to have extra help She must figure out how many volunteers to assign to each job

Construction Gardening

Welcome

to the Zoo!

Amanda lists the three jobs she needs help with on

her clipboard She asks if anyone has a

special interest because she wants to put the people

in jobs they will enjoy All the people say they are just

happy to help out and will do any of the three jobs

She figures out that with nine volunteers she will need

three people to work on each job

9 ÷ 3 = 3; 3 people for each job

Amanda asks three people to help at the entrance

She asks three more volunteers who grow flowers at

home to help with the garden The remaining three

volunteers leave to work on the building Amanda will

check on the volunteers later

9 ÷ 3 = 3

There are three volunteers for each job.

Chapter 3:

The Elephants Need Their Hay and Carrots!

10

Once Amanda knows the volunteers are set, she checks on a food delivery Four trucks carrying several tons of hay for the elephants have arrived at the zoo Hay is just one of the foods elephants eat

They also eat large amounts of leaves, grass, and tree bark Elephants are such large animals They can eat for nearly twenty hours a day

Trucks with food and supplies do not come through the main zoo entrance They have a special place where they enter the zoo When Amanda arrives at the delivery entrance, the four trucks are waiting for her Each truck carries two tons of hay

The drivers have paperwork Amanda must sign for the delivery

DIGITAL FINAL PROOF

2 Tons

of Hay

2 Tons

of Hay

2 Tons

of Hay

2 Tons

of Hay

&&

Amanda makes sure the trucks are delivering

exactly what she ordered before she signs the papers

Amanda knows there are eight tons of hay since each

truck carries two tons

4 × 2 = 8; 8 tons of hay

Perfect—that is exactly what she ordered Amanda

signs the delivery paperwork She smiles and thanks

the truck drivers The drivers, who deliver all kinds of

food to the zoo, head off to unload the hay near the

elephants

Elephants are plant eaters Amanda knows it takes

a lot of food to feed an elephant An adult African

elephant can weigh more than 10,000 pounds Wild

elephants can eat up to 440 pounds of food each day!

4 × 2 = 8

The four trucks delivered 8 tons of hay

Elephants love carrots Zookeepers sometimes fill treat balls with carrots for their elephants.

Elephants love carrots Zookeepers sometimes fill treat balls with carrots for their elephants.

&'

Seeing the hay reminds Amanda to think about other things elephants eat She knows that hay is not the only food in their diets They also eat a lot of carrots Amanda decides this is a good time to weigh some carrots which she will later put inside treat balls for the elephants

Elephants enjoy the treat-filled balls They are large and very hard to break They have small holes in them Amanda can put up to 12 pounds of food inside each ball Then she gives the balls to the elephants who try to get food out through the holes They spend hours playing with treat balls They usually kick them around, but sometimes an elephant will stomp on one!

Amanda stops to play with the baby elephant after leaving treat balls filled with carrots for the elephants.

&(

Amanda wants to stuff each of the three treat balls

with carrots for the elephants Sometimes she fills

them with nuts and raisins Today she will fill them

with carrots

She places three empty buckets on a scale,

knowing each bucket can hold about 12 pounds of

carrots She multiplies to find out how many pounds

of carrots the three buckets will hold all together

3 × 12 = 36; 36 pounds of carrots

The three buckets can hold 36 pounds of carrots

in all Amanda fills the treat balls with carrots and

then heads down the zoo path to see the elephants

The carrots will be a tasty treat for the large animals

Soon Amanda heads to the main office and sees new pamphlets in a box on her desk The pamphlets tell visitors about the elephants at the zoo They have many interesting facts including how much the

elephants eat and drink, and how much they sleep Amanda needs to set out the pamphlets for six tour guides who will work tomorrow The box contains

12 stacks of pamphlets

12 ÷ 6 = 2; 2 stacks of pamphlets Twelve stacks of pamphlets divided among six tour guides equal two stacks of pamphlets for each guide She places two stacks of pamphlets on a table for each of the six tour guides The tour guides will find them in the morning

Guide 1 Guide 2 Guide 3

Guide 4 Guide 5 Guide 6

12 ÷ 6 = 2

Each tour guide will get 2 stacks of pamphlets

Another zookeeper at Amanda’s

zoo feeds the rhinos.

&*

Amanda is done with her work for the day Before

she heads home, she takes a walk through the zoo

once more She passes many of the animals she took

care of earlier that day She recalls what a busy day it

has been and thinks about her job

She is happy that her job allows her to do so many

different things She orders food for the animals,

checks on deliveries, and assigns tasks to volunteers

She also feeds the animals and prepares treats for

them

There is a lot of math involved in all of those jobs

She wouldn’t want to work anywhere else Amanda

loves the zoo and looks forward to another busy day

tomorrow

Photo Credits: cover, p 13 © Stephanie Maze/Corbis; p 3 © Corbis Sygma;

p 5 © Inga Spence/Visuals Unlimited; p 7 © R.Dirscherl/ FLPA; p 15 © George

D Lepp/Corbis.

1

Glossary

exhibit something on display for others to see eucalyptus a type of evergreen tree that is native to

Australia and its neighboring islands Eucalyptus leaves have an oil that can be used as a medicine

nutrient a source of nourishment nutritious giving nourishment orangutan an ape with long arms and reddish brown

hair that lives in trees

DIGITAL FINAL PROOF

Think and Respond

1 Hippos spend most of their days in shallow water

At night, they like to graze on grass If a hippo grazes for about six hours a day, how many hours does a hippo graze in one week? Remember, there are seven days in a week

2 There are four giraffes at a watering hole at the zoo During the course of the day, they each drink 10 gallons of water How many gallons of water do the four giraffes drink in all?

3 There are three kangaroo exhibits at the zoo and

a total of 12 kangaroos Each exhibit has the same number of kangaroos How many kangaroos are in each exhibit?

4 Write your own multiplication or division problem Think of an animal that might live at the zoo

Research how much food and the types of food the animal eats Show a number sentence that you can use to solve the problem