The poor platypus must feel so confused. It has a duck’s bill, a beaver’s flat tail, and an otter’s feet. It also has no teeth. To top it off, it’s a mammal, but it lays eggs the way a duck would. The platypus is so weird-looking that when English scientists first found it in Australia, they had to bring one back to England because no one believed any animal could look like that!
Wee ones: A platypus has 4 otter-like feet. What numbers would you say to count them?
Little kids: A platypus eats 1/2 its own weight every night! If it weighs 4 pounds, how much does it eat? Bonus: If you had a pet platypus and a pet otter, how many feet would you all have together? (Hint if needed: Each animal has 4 feet.)
Big kids: If it eats 1/2 its weight every night, how much does a 4-pound platypus eat in March? Bonus: If you ate 1/2 your weight every night, how much would you eat in 10 days?
The sky’s the limit: If you weigh 100 pounds and eat half your weight every day, about how many days will it take you to eat 1 ton of food (2,000 pounds)?
Answers:
Wee ones: 1, 2, 3, 4.
Little kids: 2 pounds. Bonus: 10 feet — don’t forget yourself!
Big kids: 62 pounds, since March has 31 days. Bonus: Different for everyone: take your weight in pounds, cut in half, and then tack on a zero at the end to multiply by 10.
The sky’s the limit: Just 40 days, since you’ll eat a whopping 50 pounds a day.
