Name: African Elephants

Transcription

1 Name: African Elephants African elephants are the largest land mammals in the world! Male African elephants can get to be thirteen feet tall, when measured from the ground to the top of their shoulder. They can weigh up to 14,000 pounds. Male elephants are called bulls, and female elephants are called cows. Cows do not grow as large as bulls. African elephants have ears that can be five feet long, and are shaped like the continent of Africa! Elephants can flap their ears. The big ears help keep the elephants cool. When the elephants flap their ears, the ears act as a fan. The flapping also helps cool down the elephant s blood as it runs through the thousands of veins near the surface of the ears. The cooled blood is pumped back through the elephant s body and cools the elephant down. Elephants graze, or eat continuously throughout the day. An elephant can graze for up to sixteen hours a day. They eat vegetation such as grass, leaves, plants, bark, and fruit. Because they are so big and heavy, elephants need to eat a large amount of food each day. A single elephant can eat up to three hundred pounds of vegetation in one day! Elephants trunks are very interesting and serve several different functions. Elephants can use them to grasp, pull, or hold things, much like humans can use their hands. At the very end of an elephant s trunk are two prehensile (grasping) fingers which they can use to pick up things. Elephants can also curl their trunks around objects to carry or to pull them. Elephants grasp their food with their trunks and then put it in their mouths. Elephants breathe through their trunks. They can also use their trunks like straws, to suck up water, which they can then squirt into their mouths. Elephants sometimes drink up to forty gallons of water a day!

2 Elephants have two tusks made of ivory. The tusks grow from each side of their skulls, near the base of their trunks. The tusks are actually specially adapted incisor teeth, but they aren t used for chewing. Elephants can use their tusks to fight with and to dig with. People used to hunt elephants so that they could get their tusks. Ivory was used to make beautiful jewelry and statues. It is against the law to hunt elephants in most countries now, because hunting them made them endangered animals. Elephants also have four molars. Two molars are located in their bottom jaw and two are located in their top jaw. Elephants use their molars to grind their food. After several years, elephant molars wear out from all of this grinding. When this happens, elephants lose their teeth, which are then replaced by another set. Elephants only have six sets of teeth to use in their lifetime. The last set comes in when they are about 25 or 26 six years old. When these are worn out, the elephant starves to death because it can no longer chew up its food. Elephants have an interesting social structure. They live together in family units called herds. Herds are made up of female elephants and young elephants of various ages. Adult male elephants do not live in these herds. They live in a herd of males, or they roam by themselves. In the female and young elephant herds, the oldest and wisest female elephant is in charge. She is called the matriarch. The entire herd does whatever the matriarch tells them to do!

3 Name: African Elephants Comprehension Sheet Use the reading sheet to answer the questions about elephants. 1. Write three facts that explain how big African elephants are: 2. Explain how an elephant uses its ears to help keep itself cool: 3. Explain what vegetation is: 4. Why do elephants need to graze up to sixteen hours a day? 5. Explain several ways in which an elephant can use its trunk:

4 6. What are tusks? 7. What are two ways in which an elephant uses its tusks? 8. Explain why an elephant s molars are replaced several times: 9. Why is it against the law to hunt elephants today? 10. What is a matriarch? 11. Explain two things you find interesting about elephant herds, and tell why you find them interesting:

5 Name: Directions: Solve the elephant word problems. Label your answers and show all work. 1. Four elephants drank 100 gallons of water at the waterhole altogether. One elephant drank 30 gallons. Two of the elephants drank the same number of gallons. The fourth elephant drank 10 gallons less than the first elephant. How many gallons of water did each of the elephants drink? 2. Twenty-six elephants each eat 295 pounds of vegetation in one day. How many pounds of vegetation will they eat in a week altogether? 3. There were five male elephants that lived together in a herd. The first weighed 12,987 pounds, the second weighed 11,345 pounds, and the other three elephants each weighed 11,243 pounds. How much did the herd weigh altogether? 4. An elephant lived for 32 years. It used up six sets of teeth during this time. About how many years did each set of teeth last?

6 Name: Elephant Heights in an All-Male Herd Directions: 1. Use the information in the chart to answer the questions below it. 2. Make a bar graph that shows the height of each elephant. Remember to label each axis, and write a title for the graph. Choose the correct interval to use to display the data in the chart. Elephant Name Sam Joe Carl Henry Jack Height in feet Use the information in the chart to answer these questions: 1.What is the median height in the elephant herd? Remember, to find the median, you write all of the data in order from smallest to largest. The middle number is the median number. Circle the median number! 2. What is the mode of the height of the elephants in the herd? To find the mode, look for the number that occurs the most often. 3. What is the mean (average) height of the elephants in the herd? To find the mean, add all the heights together and divide the answer by the number of heights. 4. What is the range of height in the herd? To find the range, subtract the smallest number from the largest number.

7 Name: Directions: Use the chart to make a bar graph. Title:

8 Name: Elephant Eats a LOT! Directions: 1. Use the information in the chart to answer the questions below it. 2. Make a bar graph that shows how many pounds of vegetation Elephant ate in 5 days! Remember to label each axis, and write a title for the graph. Choose the correct interval to use to display the data in the chart. Day of the Week Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday How Many Pounds? Use the information in the chart to answer these questions: 1.What is the median pounds of vegetation eaten by the elephant? Remember, to find the median, you write all of the data in order from smallest to largest. The middle number is the median number. Circle the median number! 2. What is the mode pounds of vegetation eaten by the elephant? To find the mode, look for the number that occurs the most often. 3. What is the mean (average) pounds of vegetation eaten by the elephant? To find the mean add all the pounds together and divide the answer by the number of days it ate. 4. What is the range of pounds of vegetation eaten by the elephant? To find the range, subtract the smallest number from the largest number.

9 Name: Directions: Use the chart to make a bar graph. Title:

10 Name: Elephant Weights! Directions: 1. Use the information in the chart to answer the questions below it. 2. Make a bar graph that shows how much each elephant in the herd weighs! Remember to label each axis, and write a title for the graph. Choose the correct interval to use to display the data in the chart. Elephant George Harry Chuck Tom Dan Weight in pounds 12,000 13,000 11,000 12,000 11,500 Use the information in the chart to answer these questions: 1. What is the median weight of the elephant herd? Remember, to find the median, you write all of the data in order from smallest to largest. The middle number is the median number. Circle the median number! 2. What is the mode of the weight of the elephant herd? To find the mode, look for the number that occurs the most often. 3. What is the mean (average) weight of the elephant herd? To find the mean add all the weights together and divide the answer by the number of elephants. 4. What is the range of the weight of the elephant herd? To find the range, subtract the smallest number from the largest number.

11 Name: Directions: Use the chart to make a bar graph. Title:

12 Name: Elephant Grazes on Vegetation! Directions: 1. Use the information in the chart to answer the questions below it. 2. Make a bar graph that shows how many hours each day elephant spent eating vegetation in 5 days! Remember to label each axis, and write a title for the graph. Choose the correct interval to use to display the data in the chart. Day of the Week Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday How many hours? Use the information in the chart to answer these questions: 1. What is the median number of hours Elephant spent grazing during the week? Remember, to find the median, you write all of the data in order from smallest to largest. The middle number is the median number. Circle the median number! 2. What is the mode of the number of hours Elephant spent grazing during the week? To find the mode, look for the number that occurs the most often. 3. What is the mean (average) number of hours Elephant spent grazing during the week? To find the mean add all the hours together and divide the answer by the number of days. 4. What is the range of the hours Elephant spent grazing? To find the range, subtract the smallest number from the largest number.

13 Name: Directions: Use the chart to make a bar graph. Title:

14 African Elephants Comprehension Sheet Note: Student answers will vary somewhat according to grade level. The answers provided are model answers. 1. Write three facts that explain how big African elephants are: They are the largest land mammals. Male elephants can get to be thirteen feet tall. They can weigh up to 14,000 pounds. 2. Explain how an elephant uses its ears to help keep itself cool: Elephant ears are almost five feet long and are filled with thousands of blood veins. The elephant flaps its ears which act like a fan and help cool the blood running through the veins near the surface of its ears. The blood is pumped back into the elephant s body and helps cool it down. 3. Explain what vegetation is: Vegetation is the plants that can be eaten, such as fruits, grass, and leaves. 4. Why do elephants need to graze up to sixteen hours a day? They are very large animals and need to eat up to 300 pounds of vegetation a day. 5. Explain several ways in which an elephant can use its trunk: An elephant uses its trunk to breathe with: like a straw to suck up water; and to grasp, pull, and lift things. 6. What are tusks? Tusks are specially adapted incisor teeth made of ivory. 7. What are two ways in which am elephant uses its tusks? Elephants use their tusks for fighting and for digging. 8. Explain why elephant molars are replaced several times during their lives: Elephants teeth wear out because they use them to grind their food. When this happens, the old teeth fall out and new ones replace them. 9. Why is it against the law to hunt elephants today? Hunting elephants for their ivory made them endangered animals. 10. What is a matriarch? A matriarch is the oldest and wisest female, and is the leader of an elephant herd. 11. Explain two things you find interesting about elephant herds and tell why you find them interesting: Answers will vary

15 Elephant Word Problems Directions: Solve the elephant word problems. Label your answers and show all work. 1. Four elephants drank 100 gallons of water at the waterhole altogether. One elephant drank 30 gallons. Two of the elephants drank the same number of gallons. The fourth elephant drank 10 gallons less than the first elephant. How many gallons of water did each of the elephants drink? Elephant 1: 30 gallons; Elephant: 2: 25 gallons; Elephant 3: 25 gallons; Elephant 4: 20 gallons. 2. Twenty-six elephants each eat 295 pounds of vegetation in one day. How many pounds of vegetation will they eat in a week altogether? 1.) 26 X 295 = 7,670 2.) 7,570 X 7 = 53,690 pounds of vegetation eaten in a week 3. There were five male elephants that lived together in a herd. The first weighed 12,987 pounds, the second weighed 11,345 pounds, and the other three elephants each weighed 11,243 pounds. How much did the herd weigh altogether? 12, ,345 + (3 X 11,243) = 58,061 pounds altogether. 4. An elephant lived for 32 years. It used up six sets of teeth during this time. About how many years did each set of teeth last? 32 divided by 6 = 5.33, so round down to 5. One set lasted for about 5 years Elephant Heights in an All-Male Herd 1.What is the median height in the elephant herd? Remember, to find the median, you write all of the data in order from smallest to largest. The middle number is the median number. Circle the median number! 10, 11, 12, 12, is the median height. 2. What is the mode of the height of the elephants in the herd? To find the mode, look for the number that occurs the most often. 12 is the mode. 3. What is the mean (average) height of the elephants in the herd? To find the mean, add all the heights together and divide the answer by the number of heights.

16 = divided by 5 = feet tall average height 4. What is the range of height in the herd? To find the range, subtract the smallest number from the largest number = 3 is the range of height in the herd. Graph: Check graph. Title should be something like: Elephant Height in an All-Male Elephant Herd. Intervals of 2 are given. X-axis should be labeled Elephants; Y-axis (intervals) should be labeled as Height in Feet. Names of the elephants should be written in the bottom row of the graph. Elephant Eats a LOT! 1.What is the median pounds of vegetation eaten by the elephant? Remember, to find the median, you write all of the data in order from smallest to largest. The middle number is the median number. Circle the median number! 175, 225, 250, 250, is the median number of pounds 2. What is the mode pounds of vegetation eaten by the elephant? To find the mode, look for the number that occurs the most often. 250 is the mode. 3. What is the mean (average) pounds of vegetation eaten by the elephant? To find the mean add all the pounds together and divide the answer by the number of days it ate = divided by 5 = 140 pounds (average, or mean) 4. What is the range of pounds of vegetation eaten by the elephant? To find the range, subtract the smallest number from the largest number = 125 pounds (range) Graph: Check graph. The title should be something like: Pounds of Vegetation Eaten by Elephant in a Week. Intervals of 25 are easiest to use to display data. X-axis should be labeled Day of Week ; Y-axis (intervals) should be labeled as Pounds of Vegetation. Days of the week should be written in the bottom row of the graph.

17 Elephant Weights! 1. What is the median weight of the elephant herd? Remember, to find the median, you write all of the data in order from smallest to largest. The middle number is the median number. Circle the median number! 11,000, 11,500, 12,000, 12,000 13,000 12,000 is the median weight 2. What is the mode of the weight of the elephant herd? To find the mode, look for the number that occurs the most often. 12,000 is the mode of the elephants weight. 3. What is the mean (average) weight of the elephant herd? To find the mean add all the weights together and divide the answer by the number of elephants. 11, , , , ,000 = 59,500 59,500 divided by 5 = 11,900 is the average weight of an elephant in the herd. 4. What is the range of the weight of the elephant herd? To find the range, subtract the smallest number from the largest number. 13,000 11,000 = 12,000 pounds is the range of weight in the elephant herd. Graph: Check graph. The title should be something like: Elephant Weights. Intervals of 2000 are easiest to use to display data. X-axis should be labeled Names of Elephants ; Y-axis (intervals) should be labeled as Weight in pounds. The names of the elephants should be written in the bottom row of the graph. Elephant Grazes on Vegetation! 1. What is the median number of hours Elephant spent grazing during the week? Remember, to find the median, you write all of the data in order from smallest to largest. The middle number is the median number. Circle the median number! 10, 12, 14, 16, is the median number of hours spent grazing.

18 2. What is the mode of the number of hours Elephant spent grazing during the week? To find the mode, look for the number that occurs the most often. 16 is the mode. 3. What is the mean (average) number of hours Elephant spent grazing during the week? To find the mean add all the hours together and divide the answer by the number of days = divided by 5 = 13.6 is the average number of hours spent grazing. 4. What is the range of the hours elephant spent grazing? To find the range, subtract the smallest number from the largest number = 6 6 is the range of hours spent grazing Graph: Check graph. The title should be something like: Number of Hours Elephant Spent Grazing. Intervals of 2 are easiest to use to display data. X-axis should be labeled Day of Week ; Y-axis (intervals) should be labeled as Hours spent grazing. The names of the days of the week should be written in the bottom row of the graph.