Mice, rats, squirrels, beavers, and porcupines are all “rodents” — but who’s the biggest rodent of all? The capybara. It almost looks like a small bear, but it’s happy to hang out with other creatures. At an animal shelter in Arkansas, a group of puppies loves a rescued capybara named Cheesecake. They snuggle with her, climb on her, and splash in the kiddie pool with her. Cheesecake also shares meals with a baby deer and a turtle. They’re probably all glad she isn’t a prickly porcupine!
Wee ones: If there are 9 puppies plus the capybara, how many furry animals are in this “family”?
Little kids: If you took Cheesecake for a walk, how many legs would the two of you have together? Bonus: How many legs do the capybara, deer and turtle have all together?
Big kids: Porcupines weigh about 35 pounds, but capybaras weigh around 100 pounds more than that! About how much does a capybara weigh? Bonus: If Cheesecake is exactly 4 feet long, is she longer or shorter than you – and by how many inches?
The sky’s the limit: If the shelter has twice as many turtles as capybaras and 10 times as many puppies as turtles, and there are 69 animals in total, how many animals of each type do they have?
Answers:
Wee ones: 10 animals.
Little kids: 6 legs. Bonus: 12 legs.
Big kids: 135 pounds. Bonus: Different for everyone…subtract 48 inches from your height, or subtract your height from 48 inches.
The sky’s the limit: 3 capybaras, 6 turtles and 60 puppies. Each capybara is part of a “set” of 23 animals: 1 capybara, 2 turtles, and 20 puppies – and 69 is 3 x 23. So there are 3 sets in total.
