Ann Whitehead Nagda - Panda Math. Learning About Subtraction from Hua Mei and Mei Sheng

M EI S HENG ON HIS C LIMBING P ERCH .

H UA M EI IS R EADY FOR L UNCH .

I TS A L ONG WAY DOWN , M EI S HENG !

P EEKABOO , M EI S HENG !

PANDA MATH

L EARNING ABOUT S UBTRACTIONFROM H UA M EI AND M EI S HENG

BY A NN W HITEHEAD N AGDA

IN COLLABORATION WITH THE S AN D IEGO Z OO

Henry Holt and Company

New York

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B AI Y UN AND HER CUB H UA M EI ENJOY BAMBOOSICLES , BAMBOO STICKS FROZEN WITH WATER AND VEGETABLES INSIDE .

In 1996, two adult giant pandas arrived at the San Diego Zoo, a female named Bai Yun (pronounced BY YOON ) and a male named Shi Shi (pronounced SHEE SHEE ). Three years later their daughter Hua Mei (pronounced HWA MAY ) was born. Late in the summer of 2003, Bai Yun was pregnant again and the world watched and waited for word of the new cub, Mei Sheng (pronounced MAY SHUN ). This book uses subtraction to tell the story of the panda cubs.

AT FIVE DAYS OLD M EI S HENG DOESNT LOOK MUCH LIKE A PANDA YET .

Subtraction means finding the difference between two numbers. When Mei Sheng was born, he weighed about 4 ounces. He was the size and weight of one stick of butter. Two weeks later, he was much biggerhe weighed 13 ounces. The graph above shows his weight at both times. Each block represents one ounce. You can see that the difference between Mei Shengs weight at birth and his weight at two weeks is 9 ounces.

D R . M EG S UTHERLAND -S MITH, A Z OO VETERINARIAN , EXAMINES MEI SHENG WHEN HES TWO WEEKS OLD .

One summer afternoon a giant panda named Bai Yun gave birth to a male cub. Cameras placed in the birthing den allowed the San Diego Zoo staff to watch the mother panda and her newborn cub without disturbing them. Mei Sheng, as the cub was later named, was so tiny at first that observers had trouble seeing him on the TV monitors. Instead they listened for his loud cry. Bai Yun cuddled the fragile infant against her chest with one massive arm. The newborn cub had sparse white fur all over his body, and his eyes were closed. He looked more like a rat than a giant panda.

AT THREE WEEKS OLD H UA M EI IS STILL TOO YOUNG TO EAT BAMBOO .

Wild pandas usually eat only bamboo. Two thousand species, or kinds, of bamboo grow around the world. There are 57 species in the San Diego Zoo and at their Wild Animal Park. Some species grow along paths and in exhibits, but others are used to feed animals. The pandas at the Zoo eat 12 different kinds of bamboo. How many kinds are not eaten by pandas?

In the decimal or base 10 system, numbers are grouped by tens. In the chart above, the number 57 is written as 5 groups of ten and 7 ones. The number 12 is written as 1 ten and 2 ones. To subtract, take 2 ones away from 7 ones, which is 5 ones. Then take 1 ten away from 5 tens, which is 4 tens. The difference between 57 and 12 is 45. So 45 species of bamboo are not eaten by pandas.

M EI S HENG SQUAWKS FOR HIS MOTHER WHEN HES ONE MONTH OLD .

Panda mothers stay with their cubs almost continuously throughout the first month. During this time the mothers usually dont eat anything. Bai Yun waited until Mei Sheng was three days old before she left the den to get a drink of water. She had waited until the fifth day to leave Hua Mei, her first cub.

The panda mom seemed less protective of her second cub. She didnt hold him all the time as she did with her first baby, and she left him more often. Still, she was a caring and attentive mother. If the cub squawked while Bai Yun was out of the den, she would rush back in, gently pick up the baby in her mouth, and cuddle him in her arms until he fell asleep again.

W HILE B AI Y UN IS OUTSIDE THE DEN EATING BAMBOO , DR . L EE Y OUNG EXAMINES SIX-WEEK-OLD M EI S HENG .

Wild pandas spend 14 hours each day eating bamboo. In the Zoo, pandas eat for only 6 hours a day. To find out how much less time a panda in the Zoo spends eating, subtract 6 from 14.

First, figure out what you need to subtract from 14 to get 10, which is a friendly number because its an easy number to subtract from anything. Subtract 4 of the 6 hours from 14 to get 10.

14 - 4 = 10 ( SUBTRACT 4 ONES TO GET 10)

Youve taken one part away. Then subtract 2, the other part of the 6 hours, to get 8.

10 - 2 = 8 ( THEN SUBTRACT 2 ONES )

So pandas in the Zoo spend 8 fewer hours a day eating bamboo than pandas in the wild.

S ENIOR KEEPER K ATHY H AWK HOLDS M EI S HENG AT SEVEN WEEKS .

Once panda cubs are two months old, they begin to scoot around the den. Their mothers spend more time away from the den eating bamboo. The first time Hua Mei wriggled out of the den, Bai Yun took her right back inside. With Mei Sheng, the mother panda was more relaxed and even carried her cub outside into the garden area. And she didnt respond to his every little squawk like she did with Hua Mei.