Usually when a mom has a baby, just one baby comes out. Sometimes there are 2 babies, called twins; 3 babies at once are called triplets…and the record is 8 babies at once! But animals can have even more. In 2004 one mama dog had a record 24 puppies in one litter! Animals who lay eggs rack up even bigger numbers. A queen termite can lay 30,000 eggs in a day, and the cod (a fish), can lay 4 to 6 million eggs in one batch. That’s a lot of brothers and sisters to share with!
Wee ones: Fish, insects, reptiles and birds all lay eggs. How many kinds of animals is that?
Little kids: If you give 1 doggie treat to a mama dog and to each of her 4 puppies, how many treats do you give? Bonus: The most kittens in one litter is 19. How many more babies are in a dog’s litter of 24 puppies? Count up if it helps!
Big kids: A cod can lay up to 6 million eggs in 1 day. Can you “spell” 6 million in numbers? Bonus: If a termite lays 30,000 eggs a day all through June, how many eggs is that for the month? (Hint if needed: What would it be if she laid just 3,000 eggs a day?)
The sky’s the limit: If a queen bee in her life has 2,000 children who become queen bees, and each of those has 2,000 children, how many grandkids does the queen bee have?
Answers:
Wee ones: 4 kinds of animals.
Little kids: 5 treats. Bonus: 5 more babies.
Big kids: 6,000,000. Bonus: 900,000 eggs!
The sky’s the limit: 4,000,000 grandchildren. (2,000 kids x 2,000 kids for each of those).
