Koalas are fluffy-eared “marsupials,” like kangaroos. They carry their brand new babies – called joeys – in a pouch on their tummy. Koala joeys start life with almost no fur, and live in that pouch for 26 weeks. Finally they climb out and start climbing trees to eat the leaves. Climbing trees must be hard work: even as grown-ups, koalas sleep 20 hours a day!
Wee ones: Find a piece of clothing with pockets, and count them. How many pockets does it have?
Little kids: If a mama koala is carrying 5 joeys, how many koalas is that all together? Bonus: Koalas sleep 20 hours a day! Out of a 24-hour day, how much time are they awake?
Big kids: 26 weeks is the same as 6 months. If a koala is born in March, in what month does it finally crawl out of mom’s pouch? Bonus: A full-grown koala can weigh up to 33 pounds – a heavy furry friend to lug around! How much more (or less) do you weigh?
The sky’s the limit: A grown-up koala eats about 2 1/2 pounds of leaves each day. How much does it eat in a 30-day month? (Hint for those new to fractions: how much does it eat in 2 days? And how many 2-day sets are in a month?)
Answers:
Wee ones: Different for everyone…a pair of pants might have just 2 pockets, or 4, or maybe more!
Little kids: 6 koalas. Bonus: Just 4 hours.
Big kids: In September. Bonus: Different for everyone…subtract 33 from your weight in pounds, or subtract your weight from 33 if you’re a little tyke.
The sky’s the limit: 75 pounds, since they eat 15 2-day sets of 5 pounds.
